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Infection and Immunity, March 2005, p. 1811-1819, Vol. 73, No. 3
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.3.1811-1819.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Biofilm Formation, icaADBC Transcription, and Polysaccharide Intercellular Adhesin Synthesis by Staphylococci in a Device-Related Infection Model

Ursula Fluckiger,1 Martina Ulrich,2 Andrea Steinhuber,1 Gerd Döring,2 Dietrich Mack,3,{dagger} Regine Landmann,1 Christiane Goerke,2 and Christiane Wolz2*

Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Research, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland,1 Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Tübingen, Tübingen,2 Institut für Infektionsmedizin, Universitätsklinikum, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany3

Received 20 April 2004/ Returned for modification 13 July 2004/ Accepted 4 November 2004

Biofilm formation of Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. aureus is mediated by the polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) encoded by the ica operon. We used a device-related animal model to investigate biofilm formation, PIA expression (immunofluorescence), and ica transcription (quantitative transcript analysis) throughout the course of infection by using two prototypic S. aureus strains and one S. epidermidis strain as well as corresponding ica mutants. During infection, the ica mutants were growth attenuated when inoculated in competition with the corresponding wild-type strains but not when grown singly. A typical biofilm was observed at the late course of infection. Only in S. aureus RN6390, not in S. aureus Newman, were PIA and ica-specific transcripts detectable after anaerobic growth in vitro. However, both S. aureus strains were PIA positive in vivo by day 8 of infection. ica transcription preceded PIA expression and biofilm formation in vivo. In S. epidermidis, both PIA and ica expression levels were elevated compared to those in the S. aureus strains in vitro as well as in vivo and were detectable throughout the course of infection. In conclusion, in S. aureus, PIA expression is dependent on the genetic background of the strain as well as on strong inducing conditions, such as those dominating in vivo. In S. epidermidis, PIA expression is elevated and less vulnerable to environmental conditions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Wilhemstr. 31, 72074 Tübingen, Germany. Phone: 49 7071 2980187. Fax: 49 7071 293011. E-mail: Christiane.Wolz{at}uni-tuebingen.de.

Editor: A. D. O'Brien

{dagger} Present address: Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Clinical School, University of Wales Swansea, Swansea, United Kingdom.

Infection and Immunity, March 2005, p. 1811-1819, Vol. 73, No. 3
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.3.1811-1819.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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