Oral Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2018

Transcriptome-wide Statistical Structure in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Biofilm   (#141)

Kumar Selvarajoo 1 , Adam Chiow 2
  1. Agency for Science, Technology & Research, Proteos, BIOPOLIS, Singapore
  2. Singapore Institute of Technology, Dover Drive, Singapore

Biofilm, a colony forming cooperative response of microorganisms under environmental stress, is a major concern for food safety, water safety and drug resistance. Here, we investigated transcriptome-wide expressions of the biofilm yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in wildtype, and 6 previously identified biofilm regulating overexpression strains (DIG1, SAN1, TOS8, ROF1, SFL1, HEK2). Using a number of statistical parameters, our overall data reveal a strong transcriptome-wide invariance among all genotypes. This invariance is an indicator of order parameter that keep the global structure of biofilm stable. Thus, although single mutants may show significant favorable local expression changes, the almost unperturbed global structure will result in gradual adaptive response converging to original stable biofilm states. Our results ask for a deeper understanding of transcriptome-wide (attractor) behavior for selecting global regulatory targets for successful control of biofilm formation or progression.