[en] Bacterial flocculation is a process in which bacteria aggregate to form cloudy, flake-like clusters known as flocs. While this phenomenon is commonly associated with water treatment, it also has interesting industrial applications, particularly as a method for cell immobilisation. Escherichia coli, extensively employed in industrial processes, typically does not possess inherent flocculation ability. In this study, we found that certain bisbenzimidazole derivatives can rapidly induce flocculation in E. coli (K-12 MG1655) in a structure-dependent manner. Among others, high-resolution microscopy (SEM, fluid AFM) revealed a dense fibrillar network within the flocs, initially suggestive of an extracellular matrix. Mechanistic investigations demonstrated that this phenomenon cannot be linked to the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Our findings suggest that flocculation arises from the self-assembly of bisbenzimidazole derivatives into supramolecular fibres that anchor to bacterial membranes. These results uncover an atypical flocculation process distinct from charge neutralisation or EPS-mediated pathways, broadening the potential applications of bisbenzimidazole derivatives in bacterial immobilisation.
Disciplines :
Life sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Drewek, Isalyne ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté des Sciences > Service de Protéomie et Microbiologie
Pietka, Aurélie; General, Organic and Biomedical Chemistry Unit (CGOB), Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Molecular Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Mons - UMONS, Mons, 7000, Belgium ; Laboratory of Proteomics and Microbiology, University of Mons - UMONS, Mons, 7000, Belgium
Tran, Thi Quynh; Laboratory for Physics of Nanomaterials and Energy, Research Institute for Materials, University of Mons - UMONS, Mons, 7000, Belgium
Blazhynska, Marharyta; Laboratoire International Associé Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Unité Mixte de Recherche No 7019, Université de Lorraine, F-70239, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, 54506, France
Jeništova, Adéla; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
Chipot, Christophe; Laboratoire International Associé Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Unité Mixte de Recherche No 7019, Université de Lorraine, F-70239, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, 54506, France ; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA ; Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
Barth, Andreas; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
Surin, Mathieu ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté des Sciences > Service de Chimie des matériaux nouveaux
Leclère, Philippe ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté des Sciences > Service de Physique des Nanomatériaux et Energie
Wattiez, Ruddy ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté des Sciences > Service de Protéomie et Microbiologie
Muller, Robert ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine, Pharmacie et Sciences Biomédicales > Service du Doyen de la Faculté de Médecine, Pharmacie et Sciences Biomédicales ; Center for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging (CMMI), Charleroi, 6041, Belgium
Stanicki, Dimitri ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine, Pharmacie et Sciences Biomédicales > Service de Chimie générale, organique et biomédicale
Laurent, Sophie ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie > Service de Chimie générale, organique et biomédicale
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