Involvement of Sortase Anchoring of Cell Wall Proteins in Biofilm Formation by Streptococcus mutans

Streptococcus mutans is one of the best-known biofilm-forming organisms associated with humans. We investigated the role of the sortase gene (srtA) in monospecies biofilm formation and observed that inactivation of srtA caused a decrease in biofilm formation. Genes encoding three putative sortase-dependent proteins were also found to be up-regulated in biofilms versus planktonic cells and mutations in these genes resulted in reduced biofilm biomass.