AUTHOR=Woods Paul W. , Haynes Zane M. , Mina Elin G. , Marques Cláudia N. H. 

TITLE=Maintenance of S. aureus in Co-culture With P. aeruginosa While Growing as Biofilms

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.03291

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.03291

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Bacterial biofilms are found in various environmental niches and are mostly comprised by two or more bacterial species. One such example, are the mixed species bacterial biofilms found in chronic lung infections of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, which include the <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> and <italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</italic> bacterial species. <italic>S. aureus</italic> is one of the CF lung initial colonizers and is assumed to be abrogated when <italic>P. aeruginosa</italic> becomes established, eliminating its involvement as the infection evolves. Common models used in research do not mimic the actual progression of the mixed species biofilms thus, in this work we developed an <italic>in vitro</italic> model, where <italic>S. aureus</italic> biofilms establish prior to the introduction of <italic>P. aeruginosa</italic>, simulating a state that is phenotypically more similar to the one found in CF lungs. Overall our results demonstrate that <italic>S. aureus</italic> is not outcompeted, and that timing of inoculation and bacterial concentration affect the final bacterial ratio and quorum sensing related gene expression during the dual species biofilm development.</p>