Isolation of Total RNA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa within Biofilms for Measuring Gene Expression

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes infections in the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. P. aeruginosa is known for its ability to form biofilms that are protected by a matrix of exopolysaccharides. This matrix allows the microorganisms to be more resilient to external factors, including antibiotic treatment. One of the most common methods of biofilm growth for research is in microtiter plates or chambered slides. The advantage of these systems is that they allow for the testing of multiple growth conditions, but their disadvantage is that they produce limited amounts of biofilm for RNA extraction. The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed, step by step protocol on how to extract total RNA from small amounts of biofilm of sufficient quality and quantity for high throughput sequencing. This protocol allows for the study of gene expression within these biofilm systems.