Contribution of serotype and genetic background to biofilm formation by Streptococcus pneumoniae

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main cause of a variety of infections in children and the elderly ranging from otitis media to pneumonia. In recent years, biofilm formed by S. pneumoniae has begun to attract attention for a possible role in strains fitness and/or virulence. We evaluated the ability to form biofilm in a collection of clinical isolates, including antibiotic-resistant isolates whose genetic background had been previously ascertained. It appears that biofilm formation is a rather common feature among pneumococci, an observation which would fit with some types of infections caused by this microorganism (i.e. otitis, meningitis), which have often been associated with the ability to form biofilm. Antibiotic-susceptible isolates were able to form thicker biofilms compared to resistant strains, although no specific association could be observed with either serotypes or clones. This lack of association between the ability to form biofilm and any of the characters examined, while being a very common feature of pneumococci, may be suggestive of an important role for biofilm in pneumococcal ecology.