Gisela Klauck

TL;DR: This study reveals the microanatomy and microphysiology of an Escherichia coli macrocolony biofilm at an unprecedented cellular resolution, with physiologically different zones and strata forming as a function of known global regulatory networks that respond to biofilm-intrinsic gradients of nutrient supply.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that this system operates as a signalling cascade, in which c‐di‐GMP controlled by the DGC/PDE pair YegE/YhjH (module I) regulates the activity of the YdaM/YciR pair (module II), and the two module II proteins form a signalling complex with MlrA.

TL;DR: The results provide the basis for a novel model of local c-di-GMP signaling in which a single strongly expressed master PDE, PdeH, dynamically eradicates global effects of several DGCs by strongly draining the global c- di-G MP pool and thereby restricting these D GCs to serving as local c+GMP sources that activate specific colocalized effector/target systems.

TL;DR: This study reveals the spatial order of differential sigma factor activities, stringent control of ribosomal gene expression and c-di-GMP signalling in vertically cryosectioned macrocolony biofilms and demonstrates that the intriguing extracellular matrix architecture, which determines the emergent physiological and biomechanical properties of biofilm, results from the spatial interplay of global gene regulation and microenvironmental conditions.

TL;DR: Precisely regulated stratification in matrix‐free and matrix‐producing cell layers is thus essential for the physical integrity and architecture of E .