[Biofilm Formation by the Nonflagellated flhB1 Mutant of Azospirillum brasilense Sp245]

Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 with mixed flagellation are able to form biofilms on various surfaces. A nonflagellated mutant of this strain with inactivated chromosomal copy of the flhB gene (flhB1) was shown to exhibit specific traits at the later stages of biofilm formation on a hydrophilic (glass) surface. Mature biofilms of the flhB1::Omegon-Km mutant Sp245.1063 were considerably thinner than those of the parent strain Sp245. The biofilms of the mutant were more susceptible to the forces of hydrodynamic shear. A. brasilense Sp245 cells in biofilms were not found to possess lateral flagella. Cells with polar flagella were, however, revealed by atomic force microscopy of mature native biofilms of strain Sp245. Preservation of a polar flagellum (probably nonmotile) on the cells of A. brasilense Sp245 may enhance the biofilm stability.