Enhanced colonization of rpoS-deficient Escherichia coli cells on solid surfaces by reinforced csgA gene expression

Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the rpoS-deficient cells of E. coli K-12 BW25113 (ΔrpoS) increased the number of flagella on the cell surfaces. However, the quantitative analysis of cell colonization showed that the increased number of flagella on ΔrpoS cell surfaces did not cause the enhancement of cell colonization on the surfaces of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) after 24 h of incubation at 37℃. To facilitate the enhanced expression of curli, the csgA gene was introduced into the ΔrpoS cells. The transformed cells rich in flagella and curli on the cell surfaces were found to make colonies 2-3 times larger than both the wild type and ΔrpoS cells on the PVC, PP and PS surfaces at 37℃. It was thus verified that the reinforcement of csgA gene in the ΔrpoS cells induced the enhanced colonization on the solid surfaces with the increased flagellum and curli expressions.