Microbiology, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Bioengineering
3
Scopus Publications
113
Scholar Citations
3
Scholar h-index
3
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Foraging Signals Promote Swarming in Starving Pseudomonas aeruginosa Divakar Badal, Abhijith Vimal Jayarani, Mohammad Ameen Kollaran, Deep Prakash, Monisha P, Varsha Singh Mbio, 2021 P. aeruginosa , a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen, can adapt to diverse ecological niches and exhibits several forms of social behavior. Swarming (flagellum-driven collective motility) is a collective behavior of P. aeruginosa exclusively over semisolid surfaces.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa bioflm formation on endotracheal tubes requires multiple two-component systems Divakar Badal, Abhijith Vimal Jayarani, Mohammed Ameen Kollaran, Aloke Kumar, Varsha Singh Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2020 Introduction.Indwelling medical devices such as endotracheal tubes (ETTs), urinary catheters, vascular access devices, tracheostomies and feeding tubes are often associated with hospital-acquired infections. Bacterial biofilm formed on the ETTs in intubated patients is a significant risk factor associated with ventilator-associated pneumonia.Pseudomonas aeruginosais one of the four frequently encountered bacteria responsible for causing pneumonia, and the biofilm formation on ETTs. However, understanding of biofilm formation on ETT and interventions to prevent biofilm remains lagging. The ability to sense and adapt to external cues contributes to their success. Thus, the biofilm formation is likely to be influenced by the two-component systems (TCSs) that are composed of a membrane-associated sensor kinase and an intracellular response regulator.Aim.This study aims to establish anin vitromethod to analyse theP. aeruginosabiofilm formation on ETTs, and identify the TCSs that contribute to this process.Methodology.In total, 112P. aeruginosaPA14 TCS mutants were tested for their ability to form biofilm on ETTs, their effect on quorum sensing (QS) and motility.Results.Out of 112 TCS mutants studied, 56 had altered biofilm biomass on ETTs. Although the biofilm formation on ETTs is QS-dependent, none of the 56 loci controlled quorum signal. Of these, 18 novel TCSs specific to ETT biofilm were identified, namely, AauS, AgtS, ColR, CopS, CprR, NasT, KdpD, ParS, PmrB, PprA, PvrS, RcsC, PA14_11120, PA14_32580, PA14_45880, PA14_49420, PA14_52240, PA14_70790. The set of 56 included the GacS network, TCS proteins involved in fimbriae synthesis, TCS proteins involved in antimicrobial peptide resistance, and surface-sensing. Additionally, several of the TCS-encoding genes involved in biofilm formation on ETTs were found to be linked to flagellum-dependent swimming motility.Conclusions.Our study established anin vitromethod for studyingP. aeruginosabiofilm formation on the ETT surfaces. We also identified novel ETT-specific TCSs that could serve as targets to prevent biofilm formation on indwelling devices frequently used in clinical settings.
Context-Specific Requirement of Forty-Four Two-Component Loci in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Swarming Ameen M. Kollaran, Shubham Joge, Harshitha S. Kotian, Divakar Badal, Deep Prakash, Ayushi Mishra, Manoj Varma, Varsha Singh Iscience, 2019 Swarming in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a coordinated movement of bacteria over semisolid surfaces (0.5%-0.7% agar). On soft agar, P. aeruginosa exhibits a dendritic swarm pattern, with multiple levels of branching. However, the swarm patterns typically vary depending upon the experimental design. In the present study, we show that the pattern characteristics of P. aeruginosa swarm are highly environment dependent. We define several quantifiable, macroscale features of the swarm to study the plasticity of the swarm, observed across different nutrient formulations. Furthermore, through a targeted screen of 113 two-component system (TCS) loci of the P. aeruginosa strain PA14, we show that forty-four TCS genes regulate swarming in PA14 in a contextual fashion. However, only four TCS genes-fleR, fleS, gacS, and PA14_59770-were found essential for swarming. Notably, many swarming-defective TCS mutants were found highly efficient in biofilm formation, indicating opposing roles for many TCS loci.
RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
High-resolution mapping of human RNA polymerase III reveals transcription termination as a rate-limiting step J Mikołajczyk, A Kollaran, J Weidenhausen, CW Müller, TW Turowski bioRxiv, 2025.10. 17.683076 , 2025 2025
Genetic and environmental determinants of swarming in Pseudomonas aeruginosa MA Kollaran Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore , 2023 2023
Foraging Signals Promote Swarming in Starving Pseudomonas aeruginosa D Badal, AV Jayarani, MA Kollaran, D Prakash, M P, V Singh mBio 12 (5), e02033-21 , 2021 2021 Citations: 26
Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation on endotracheal tubes requires multiple two-component systems D Badal, AV Jayarani, MA Kollaran, A Kumar, V Singh Journal of Medical Microbiology 69 (6), 906-919 , 2020 2020 Citations: 33
Context-specific requirement of forty-four two-component loci in Pseudomonas aeruginosa swarming AM Kollaran, S Joge, HS Kotian, D Badal, D Prakash, A Mishra, M Varma, ... IScience 13, 305-317 , 2019 2019 Citations: 54
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Context-specific requirement of forty-four two-component loci in Pseudomonas aeruginosa swarming AM Kollaran, S Joge, HS Kotian, D Badal, D Prakash, A Mishra, M Varma, ... IScience 13, 305-317 , 2019 2019 Citations: 54
Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation on endotracheal tubes requires multiple two-component systems D Badal, AV Jayarani, MA Kollaran, A Kumar, V Singh Journal of Medical Microbiology 69 (6), 906-919 , 2020 2020 Citations: 33
Foraging Signals Promote Swarming in Starving Pseudomonas aeruginosa D Badal, AV Jayarani, MA Kollaran, D Prakash, M P, V Singh mBio 12 (5), e02033-21 , 2021 2021 Citations: 26
High-resolution mapping of human RNA polymerase III reveals transcription termination as a rate-limiting step J Mikołajczyk, A Kollaran, J Weidenhausen, CW Müller, TW Turowski bioRxiv, 2025.10. 17.683076 , 2025 2025
Genetic and environmental determinants of swarming in Pseudomonas aeruginosa MA Kollaran Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore , 2023 2023
