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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Biofilms
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1525581

Transcriptome analysis reveals the molecular mechanism of γ-linolenic acid eradicating the biofilm of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium

Provisionally accepted
Ming Wei Ming Wei Peng Wang Peng Wang Tianmeng Li Tianmeng Li Jun Liu Jun Liu Yu Wang Yu Wang Li Gu Li Gu Shuai Wang Shuai Wang *
  • Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE-fm) biofilms pose a significant clinical challenge due to the limited effectiveness of traditional antibiotics. This study investigates the potential of γ-linolenic acid (GLA) as a novel antibiofilm agent.Methods: Transcriptome analysis was performed on the V27 isolate, comparing cells in mature biofilms treated with and without GLA. The findings were further validated using qRT-PCR on six VRE-fm isolates and two E. faecalis isolates.Results: Transcriptome analysis revealed a significant downregulation in the expression levels of genes associated with biofilm formation, including fruA, fruB, sgrA, lpxtg-cwa, tfpp, lafA, lafB, malP, fsrA, and fsrC', while a significant upregulation was observed in the expression of fsrBD. Validation by qRT-PCR in six VRE-fm isolates confirmed the significant changes in the expression levels of all genes except for lpxtg-cwa, with statistical significance. The expression of bgsB and bgsA genes, which are the homologs of lafA and lafB genes, along with the Fsr-regulated genes gelE and sprE in E. faecalis, were also found to be downregulated by GLA. In addition, KEGG analysis identified specific metabolic pathways that were significantly downregulated by GLA.GLA effectively targets multiple aspects of biofilm formation in VRE-fm, including the downregulation of key biofilm-related genes, the inhibition of quorum sensing systems, and the

    Keywords: Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, Biofilm, γ-Linolenic acid, eradication, molecular mechanism

    Received: 11 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wei, Wang, Li, Liu, Wang, Gu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shuai Wang, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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