The role of the gene codY in S. epidermidis biofilm formation

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes, N.
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Cerca, Nuno, França, Angela
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/74957

Background: The development of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) cells within biofilms is a major clinical concern, as it contributes to the recurrence of biofilm-related infections. CodY, a global transcriptional regulator of metabolism and virulence genes, was previously found upregulated in Staphylococcus epidermidis 9142 biofilms with higher proportions of VBNC cells, suggesting a potential role in the mediation of the VBNC state. Objective: Due to strain-to-strain variability, we aimed to assess the expression of the gene codY in other S. epidermidis strains, including the strain 1457, which is amenable to mutagenesis. Additionally, to further study the function of CodY in the development of VBNC cells, a codY deletion mutant was constructed in the1457 background. Results: Under VBNC-inducing conditions, codY expression was significantly increased in all strains tested (2.5- to 4.4-fold). Furthermore, the deletion of codY gene in the strain 1457 resulted in a reduced growth rate and, more importantly, in a reduced biofilm biomass production when compared with the wild type (35% of reduction). Conclusion and significance: Our findings suggest an important role of codY gene in S. epidermidis virulence, as biofilm formation, one of the most important virulence factors of this bacterium, was affected by codY deletion. Moreover, to date, this is the first study assessing the role of codY gene in S. epidermidis.