Inactivation of cysL Inhibits Biofilm Formation by Activating the Disulfide Stress Regulator Spx in Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

Bacillus subtilis has been studied as a model organism for biofilm formation. In this study, I explored why the cysL deletion mutant was defective in biofilm formation. I demonstrated that the Δ cysL mutation activated the disulfide stress response regulator Spx, which inhibits biofilm formation by repressing biofilm matrix genes. Homologs of Spx are highly conserved among Gram-positive bacteria with low G+C contents. In some pathogens, Spx is also reported to inhibit biofilm formation by repressing biofilm matrix genes, even though these genes and their regulation are quite different from those of B. subtilis . Thus, the negative regulation of biofilm formation by Spx is likely to be well conserved across species and may be an appropriate target for control of biofilm formation.