The Abundance and Organization of Salmonella Extracellular Polymeric Substances in Gallbladder-Mimicking Environments and In Vivo

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi causes chronic infections by establishing biofilms on cholesterol gallstones. The production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) is key to biofilm development, and biofilm architecture depends on which EPSs are made. The presence and spatial distribution of Salmonella EPSs produced in vitro and in vivo were investigated in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and S. Typhi biofilms by confocal microscopy. Comparisons between serovars and EPS-mutant bacteria were carried out by examining growth on cholesterol-coated surfaces, with human gallstones in ox or human bile, and in mice with gallstones. On cholesterol-coated surfaces, no major differences in EPS biomass were found between serovars. Cocultured biofilms containing wild-type (WT) and EPS-mutant bacteria demonstrated WT compensation for EPS mutations. Analysis of biofilm EPSs from gallbladder-mimicking conditions found that culture in human bile more consistently replicated the relative abundance and spatial organization of each EPS on gallstones from the chronic mouse model than culture in ox bile. S. Typhimurium biofilms cultured in vitro on gallstones in ox bile exhibited colocalized pairings of curli fimbriae/lipopolysaccharide and O-antigen capsule/cellulose, while these associations were not present in S. Typhi biofilms or in mouse gallstone biofilms. In general, the inclusion of human bile with gallstones in vitro replicated biofilm development on gallstones in vivo, demonstrating the strength of this model for studying biofilm parameters or EPS-directed therapeutic treatments.