S. epidermidis lifecycle: how bacteria trick the host and the clinician?

Abstract

Background: In the clinical setting, biofilms were thought to be an alternative phenotype to planktonic pure cultures but scientific evidence from the last decade has revealed that bacteria, similar to more evolved species, undergo a specific lifecycle containing: (i) biofilm formation (ii) dispersion and (iii) planktonic growth phases. This results in constant alterations in bacterial physiology, with significant consequences to the outcome of biofilm-related infections. S. epidermidis, a common commensal of the human skin and mucosae, is the leading causative agent of medical device-associated infections due to its tenacious ability to form biofilms. Here, we performed a multi-factorial analysis to understand how the physiological alterations associated with S. epidermidis biofilm lifecycle enable this bacterium to (i) evade the host immune response, (ii) tolerate higher concentrations of antibiotics, and (iii) avoid detection by standard diagnostic methods.