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Updated: May 1, 2026

Microtiter Dish Biofilm Formation Assay
Published on: January 30, 2011
A different path: revealing the function of staphylococcal proteins in biofilm formation
Kate E Atkin1, Sandy J MacDonald2, Andrew S Brentnall1
1Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
Abstract:
Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis cause dangerous and difficult to treat medical device-related infections through their ability to form biofilms. Extracellular poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG) facilitates biofilm formation and is a vaccination target, yet details of its biosynthesis by the icaADBC gene products is limited. IcaC is the proposed transporter for PNAG export, however a comparison of the Ica proteins to homologous exo-polysaccharide synthases suggests that the common IcaAD protein components both synthesise and transport the PNAG. The limited distribution of icaC to the Staphylococcaceae and its membership of a family of membrane-bound acyltransferases, leads us to suggest that IcaC is responsible for the known O-succinylation of PNAG that occurs in staphylococci, identifying a potentially new therapeutic target specific for these bacteria.
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