Chemical Communication Visualized by Mass Spectrometry: Specialized Metabolism in Bacterial Biofilms

A bacterial biofilm is a physiological state bacteria enter when adjusting to changes in the surrounding environment. Pathogenic bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio cholerae, utilize biofilms as a mechanism to aid in surface adhesion, increase proliferation, and institute colonization. Biofilms also allow these pathogenic species to maintain antibiotic resistance and are responsible for the majority of chronic microbial infections. Therefore, biofilm inhibition by exogenous molecules has been an attractive strategy for the development of novel therapeutics. Chapter 1 provides a general overview of bacterial biofilms, the impact they have on human health, and also highlights what is known about biofilm regulation and the current gaps in knowledge. The following body of work follows this theme to investigate biofilm regulation, and more specifically, the arsenal of specialized metabolites produced by these species employed to do so. The chapters in this thesis report on studies of biofilm chemical communication that transition from in vitro to in vivo, and then shift to the pursuit of biofilm inhibition.