The Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Matrix Protein CdrA Has Similarities to Other Fibrillar Adhesin Proteins

Abstract

The ability of bacteria to adhere to each other and both biotic and abiotic surfaces is key to biofilm formation, and one way that bacteria adhere is using fibrillar adhesins. Fibrillar adhesins share several key characteristics, including (i) they are extracellular, surface-associated proteins, (ii) they contain an adhesive domain as well as a repetitive stalk domain, and (iii) they are either a monomer or homotrimer (i.e., identical, coiled-coil) of a high molecular weight protein. Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses the fibrillar adhesin called CdrA to promote bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation.