Cellular and environmental factors influencing biofilm formation and colonization of plant tissue by a beneficial strain of bacteria, Pseudomonas donghuensis P482.

The ability to colonize different environmental niches by bacteria is most often determined by the ability to form biofilms - complex, multicellular communities. This, in turn, depends on both cellular and extracellular factors such as genetic background of the strain, type of surface (biotic or abiotic) to which bacteria attach, availability of nutrients, temperature, etc. Pseudomonas donghuensis P482 strain is a little-known isolate from tomato rhizosphere, exhibiting antimicrobial activity towards bacterial and fungal plant pathogens. Studies have shown that it efficiently colonizes plant rhizosphere and forms biofilm on artificial surfaces. Which genetic or environmental factors underlie the mechanism of biofilm formation were yet to be elucidated. The presented research aimed at identifying those factors. Basing on the analysis of genome, knock-out mutants of the P482 strain were constructed in the genes potentially involved in biofilm formation and further analyzed for motility, colony morphology, attachment to artificial surfaces in different culture conditions, and colonization of maize and tomato rhizosphere.