Easter egg

Biofilms are the result of the multicellular lifestyle of B. subtilis. They are characterized by the formation of a matrix polysaccharide and an amyloid-like protein, TasA.

Gene name	sinR
Synonyms	sin, flaD
Essential	no
Product	transcriptional regulator of post-exponential-phase responses genes
Function	control of biofilm formation
Metabolic function and regulation of this protein in SubtiPathways: Biofilm, Central C-metabolism
MW, pI	12 kDa, 7.177
Gene length, protein length	333 bp, 111 aa
Immediate neighbours	sinI, tasA
Get the DNA and protein sequences (Barbe et al., 2009)
Genetic context This image was kindly provided by SubtiList

Labs working on biofilm formation

• Daniel Kearns
• Oscar Kuipers
• Beth Lazazzera
• Richard Losick
• Nicola Stanley-Wall

Key genes and operons involved in biofilm formation

• matrix polysaccharide synthesis:
  • epsA-epsB-epsC-epsD-epsE-epsF-epsG-epsH-epsI-epsJ-epsK-epsL-epsM-epsN-epsO
• amyloid protein synthesis
  • yqxM-sipW-tasA
• regulation
  • SlrR
  • SlrA
  • SinR
  • SinI
  • PtkA
  • TkmA
  • PtpZ
  • DegU
  • RacX
• biofilm disassembly
  • YlmE
• other proteins required for biofilm formation
  • SpeA
  • YmcA
  • YxaB

Key reviews

Roberto Kolter
Biofilms in lab and nature: a molecular geneticist's voyage to microbial ecology.
Int Microbiol: 2010, 13(1);1-7
[PubMed:20890834] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Daniel Lopez, Hera Vlamakis, Roberto Kolter
Generation of multiple cell types in Bacillus subtilis.
FEMS Microbiol Rev: 2009, 33(1);152-63
[PubMed:19054118] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Wolf-Rainer Abraham
Controlling biofilms of gram-positive pathogenic bacteria.
Curr Med Chem: 2006, 13(13);1509-24
[PubMed:16787201] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

J A Shapiro
Thinking about bacterial populations as multicellular organisms.
Annu Rev Microbiol: 1998, 52;81-104
[PubMed:9891794] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

• additional reviews: PubMed