Quorum sensing affects biofilm formation through lipopolysaccharide synthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae

Biofilm formation by Klebsiella pneumoniae is modulated by quorum sensing through the synthesis of interspecies autoinducers. We characterized in K. pneumoniae the genes homologous to those described in Escherichia coli involved in AI-2 transport, and created two isogenic mutants deleted of lsrCD and tqsA. The levels of extracellular AI-2 with lsrCD and tqsA knockout mutants showed increased and lowered concentrations of AI-2, respectively. The level of transcripts of luxS, the gene responsible for AI-2 synthesis, was increased in sessile cells of the tqsA mutant. In contrast, the expression of the AI-2 import regulator genes lsrR and lsrK was decreased. In addition, the two mutants lsrCD and tqsA formed biofilms with greater biomass but impaired architecture. Since exopolysaccharides play a main role in K. pneumoniae biofilm formation, we investigated their relationship with AI-2 synthesis. None of the mutations in lucD and the AI-2 transport systems affected the expression of three capsule polysaccharide-related genes (wzi, wza and wzx), but all induced an increase in the expression of two lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-synthesis-related genes, wbbM and wzm. AI-2 therefore seems to act as a regulator of biofilm formation and LPS synthesis in sessile K. pneumoniae cells. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.