Cross-Feeding in Bacterial Biofilms and its Impact on Branched-Chain Amino Acid Biosynthesis
Taylor Kan
Department of Biology
Faculty Supervisor: José R. de la Torre
Biofilms are made up of communities of cells that enclose themselves in an extracellular matrix. While the primary functions of such systems are to provide protection to the bacterial cells that created them, biofilms create environments that foster advantageous interactions between a diverse range of microorganisms. One example is called cross-feeding, in which different populations may abandon the biosynthetic pathways of various molecules and instead break down the metabolites of another organism to yield the same product. To further explore this concept, this study aims to uncover any correlation between the ability of Exiguobacterium to form biofilms, and the retention of biosynthetic pathways that result in branched-chain amino acids, the most energetically costly amino acids for bacteria to produce. Bioinformatic analysis of several Exiguobacterium from various environments, including one isolated from San Francisco State University’s campus will be done to determine the existing pathways for biofilm formation and branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis in each species and determine any pattern between the two. The findings of this project will help us better understand highly organized microbial communities such as biofilms and how diverse organisms may cooperate within them.