Accepted_test
Васterial biofilms are one of the main reasons for the worldwide expanding antibiotic resistance. It takes 1,000 times as much antibiotic to treat an infection if bacteria “decide” to form a biofilm. Lots of studies are being conducted for Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus. However, the regulation of biofilm formation in Escherichia coli, which can also be pathogenic, is still poorly understood. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), forming extensive biofilms, leads to chronic urinary tract infections, while the biofilms formed by EPEC can be the reason for chronic colitis or gastroenteritis. The laboratory opportunistic E. coli K-12 MG1655 strain is also characterized by biofilm formation. A variety of candidate regulators of this process have been proposed but the master regulator is not yet known. In this study we have shown that hexuronates metabolism and its regulators, UxuR and YjjM, play the key roles in successful bacterial attachment and biofilm formation via modulating these processes, while cAMP-CRP probably act indirectly. Also, our data suggest that small non-coding RNAs are deeply involved in regulation of biofilm formation in E. coli K-12 and might serve as possible signaling molecules.