Extracellular DNA within Campylobacter jejuni biofilms

What is it about?

DNA has been shown to be an important biofilm component for many bacterial species. Here we showed that Campylobacter jejuni biofilms also contain DNA, and degrading the DNA in the biofilm led to dispersal of the bacteria attached to the surface.

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Why is it important?

Campylobacter jejuni is an important food pathogen, usually infecting humans via chicken meat. One of the ways C. jejuni is thought to survive within the food chain, and on meat, is by living in biofilms. If we have a rapid method of dispersing biofilms then we can more effectively remove any C. jejuni containing biofilms from surfaces. This, in combination with other control strategies, may help to reduce the contamination of chicken meat with C. jejuni.