{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T04:07:34Z","timestamp":1789099654653,"version":"build-2803163510"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":0,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/about\/FAQ#license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                  <jats:italic>Bacillus subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  is the best-studied Gram-positive microorganism, but little is known about how the presence and utilization of diverse carbon sources impacts its production of biofilm. Here, we have identified gluconate as a carbon source that induces biofilm wrinkling in\n                  <jats:italic>B. subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  colony biofilms. Targeted phenotypic analysis revealed that the genes encoding the canonical structural biofilm components (\n                  <jats:italic>tasA<\/jats:italic>\n                  ,\n                  <jats:italic>epsA-O<\/jats:italic>\n                  , and\n                  <jats:italic>bslA<\/jats:italic>\n                  ) are required for this response. Import and metabolism of gluconate, however, are not required to induce these phenotypic changes. We show that the effect of gluconate on\n                  <jats:italic>B. subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  is linked to iron availability: production of the siderophore bacillibactin is decreased by gluconate and\n                  <jats:italic>B. subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  mutants unable to import bacillibactin grow better and wrinkle more in the presence of gluconate. In addition, supplementation of single-carbon media with iron dramatically increased growth and wrinkling of a\n                  <jats:italic>B. subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  bacillibactin mutant grown on gluconate but did not impact\n                  <jats:italic>B. subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  grown on glucose. We conclude that gluconate acts as a signal to increase biofilm in\n                  <jats:italic>B. subtilis<\/jats:italic>\n                  and increases iron availability in a bacillibactin-independent manner.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.08.750294","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T03:35:13Z","timestamp":1789097713000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Gluconate acts as a signal to induce biofilm in\n                  <i>Bacillus subtilis<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Courtney","family":"Price","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amelia","family":"Sadlon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amina","family":"Bradley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Perez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4804-1966","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elizabeth Anne","family":"Shank","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","container-title":[],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.09.08.750294","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T03:35:13Z","timestamp":1789097713000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/biorxiv.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.09.08.750294"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.64898\/2026.09.08.750294","relation":{},"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"subtype":"preprint"}}