Exploring a link between healthcare associated infections, biofilms and antimicrobial resistance

Bandeira, Maria; Borges, Vítor; Nascimento, Maria; Duarte, Aida; Gomes, Joao Paulo; Jordão, Luísa

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/6936

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Abstract(s)

HAIs are a major public health problem affecting 4 million patients per year in Europe. Here we present results of a retrospective study in wich the ability of K. pneumoniae isolates (collected during a period of 31 years) to assemble biofilms was evaluated; and an ongoing study of multispecies biofilms. In the first study, we found major differences in biofilm assembly kinetics, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content, which were further corroborated by in-depth EPS composition analysis. WGS analysis revealed a high nucleotide similarity within the core-genome, but relevant differences in the accessory genome that may account for the detected biofilm phenotypic dissimilarities, such as genes already associated with biofilm formation in other pathogenic bacteria (e.g., genes coding haemogglutinins and haemolysins). These data reinforce that the research efforts to defeat bacterial biofilms should take into account that their dynamics may be contingent on the medical devices-associated materials. The second study is ongoing and we aim at understanding the basis of multispecies biofilm assembly on different surfaces. Bacterial and fungi isolates have been used as models and until now all results suggest that the two microorganisms play different roles on biofilm onset.