Increased Bacteriophage T4 Infectivity in Aging Escherichia coli Biofilms is Not Dependent on OmpC Expression

Abstract

Bacteriophage T4 infection within Escherichia coli biofilms demonstrates a significant increase in phage progeny production during the fourth day of biofilm growth. In this study Wild type and ompC (Outer Membrane Protein C) knockout strains of E. coli were analysed via phage assay and ELISA to assess bacteriophage productivity and levels of OmpC accumulation, respectively. Both phage production and levels of OmpC showed a corresponding increase on day four of biofilm growth in wild type cultures. However, phage production in both wild type and ompC knockout strains were comparable, indicating that the up regulation the phage co-receptor OmpC may not be the basis for increased phage production in four day old E. coli biofilms.