Rapid microevolution in biofilms in response to antibiotics

We examined transcriptomic profiles of Acinetobacter baumannii antibiotic-free and antibiotic-exposed biofilm communities to investigate the short-term impact of the antibiotic presence, and genome sequenced dispersing biofilm cells to study long-term effects of antibiotic exposure by identifying mutations in genomes. Likewise, transcriptomic profiles of planktonic cultures that were used to inoculate biofilms were also investigated via RNA-Seq, and genomes of isolates derived from these planktonic cultures were sequenced.