scholarly journals Much more than a toxin: hydrogen cyanide is a volatile modulator of bacterial behaviour

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Anand ◽  
Laurent Falquet ◽  
Eliane Abou-Mansour ◽  
Floriane L'Haridon ◽  
Christoph Keel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Cytochrome C Oxidase ◽  
Hydrogen Cyanide ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Bacterial Interactions ◽  
Signalling Molecule ◽  
Global Transcriptome ◽  
Chemical Language

Bacteria communicate with each other and with other organisms in a chemical language comprising both diffusible and volatile molecules, and volatiles have recently gained increasing interest as mediators of bacterial interactions. One of the first volatile compounds discovered to play a role in biotic interactions is hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a well-known toxin, which irreversibly binds to the key respiratory enzyme cytochrome C oxidase. The main ecological function of this molecule was so far thought to lie in the inhibition of competing microorganisms. Here we show that HCN is much more than a respiratory toxin and should be considered a major regulator of bacterial behaviour rather than a solely defensive secondary metabolite. Cyanogenesis occurs in both environmental and clinical Pseudomonas strains. Using cyanide-deficient mutants in two Pseudomonas strains, we demonstrate that HCN functions as an intracellular and extracellular volatile signalling molecule, which leads to global transcriptome reprogramming affecting growth, motility, and biofilm formation, as well as the production of other secondary metabolites such as siderophores and phenazines. Our data suggest that bacteria are not only using endogenous HCN to control their own cellular functions, but are also able to remotely influence the behaviour of other bacteria sharing the same environment.

scholarly journals Bond Strengthening in Oral Bacterial Adhesion to Salivary Conditioning Films

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (17) ◽  
pp. 5511-5515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henny C. van der Mei ◽  
Minie Rustema-Abbing ◽  
Joop de Vries ◽  
Henk J. Busscher
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Adhesion ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Specific Interactions ◽  
Adhesion Forces ◽  
Bacterial Strains ◽  
Bacterial Interactions ◽  
Initial Adhesion ◽  
Conditioning Film ◽  
Interacting Surfaces ◽  
Conditioning Films

ABSTRACT Transition from reversible to irreversible bacterial adhesion is a highly relevant but poorly understood step in initial biofilm formation. We hypothesize that in oral biofilm formation, irreversible adhesion is caused by bond strengthening due to specific bacterial interactions with salivary conditioning films. Here, we compared the initial adhesion of six oral bacterial strains to salivary conditioning films with their adhesion to a bovine serum albumin (BSA) coating and related their adhesion to the strengthening of the binding forces measured with bacteria-coated atomic force microscopy cantilevers. All strains adhered in higher numbers to salivary conditioning films than to BSA coatings, and specific bacterial interactions with salivary conditioning films were accompanied by stronger initial adhesion forces. Bond strengthening occurred on a time scale of several tens of seconds and was slower for actinomyces than for streptococci. Nonspecific interactions between bacteria and BSA coatings strengthened twofold faster than their specific interactions with salivary conditioning films, likely because specific interactions require a closer approach of interacting surfaces with the removal of interfacial water and a more extensive rearrangement of surface structures. After bond strengthening, bacterial adhesion forces with a salivary conditioning film remained stronger than those with BSA coatings.

scholarly journals Comparative Genomics Within the Bacillus Genus Reveal the Singularities of Two Robust Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Biocontrol Strains

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1102-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Magno-Pérez-Bryan ◽  
P. M. Martínez-García ◽  
J. Hierrezuelo ◽  
P. Rodríguez-Palenzuela ◽  
E. Arrebola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Cell Communication ◽  
Defense Responses ◽  
Microbial Pathogens ◽  
Stimulate Plant Growth

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CECT 8237 and CECT 8238, formerly known as Bacillus subtilis UMAF6639 and UMAF6614, respectively, contribute to plant health by facing microbial pathogens or inducing the plant’s defense mechanisms. We sequenced their genomes and developed a set of ad hoc scripts that allowed us to search for the features implicated in their beneficial interaction with plants. We define a core set of genes that should ideally be found in any beneficial Bacillus strain, including the production of secondary metabolites, volatile compounds, metabolic plasticity, cell-to-cell communication systems, and biofilm formation. We experimentally prove that some of these genetic elements are active, such as i) the production of known secondary metabolites or ii) acetoin and 2-3-butanediol, compounds that stimulate plant growth and host defense responses. A comparison with other Bacillus genomes permits us to find differences in the cell-to-cell communication system and biofilm formation and to hypothesize variations in their persistence and resistance ability in diverse environmental conditions. In addition, the major protection provided by CECT 8237 and CECT 8238, which is different from other Bacillus strains against bacterial and fungal melon diseases, permits us to propose a correlation with their singular genetic background and determine the need to search for additional blind biocontrol-related features.

scholarly journals Disruption of c-di-GMP signaling networks unlocks cryptic expression of secondary metabolites during biofilm growth in Burkholderia pseudomallei

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace I Borlee ◽  
Mihnea R. Mangalea ◽  
Kevin H. Martin ◽  
Brooke A. Plumley ◽  
Samuel J. Golon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Burkholderia Pseudomallei ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Etiologic Agent ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Colony Morphology ◽  
Secretion Systems ◽  
Biofilm Growth ◽  
Conditional Expression

The regulation and production of secondary metabolites during biofilm growth of Burkholderia spp. is not well understood. To learn more about the crucial role and regulatory control of cryptic molecules produced during biofilm growth, we disrupted c-di-GMP signaling in Burkholderia pseudomallei, a soil-borne bacterial saprophyte and the etiologic agent of melioidosis. Our approach to these studies combined transcriptional profiling with genetic deletions that targeted key c-di-GMP regulatory components to characterize responses to changes in temperature. Mutational analyses and conditional expression studies of c-di-GMP genes demonstrates their contribution to phenotypes such as biofilm formation, colony morphology, motility, and expression of secondary metabolite biosynthesis when grown as a biofilm at different temperatures. RNA-seq analysis was performed at varying temperatures in a ΔII2523 mutant background that is responsive to temperature alterations resulting in hypo- and hyper- biofilm forming phenotypes. Differential regulation of genes was observed for polysaccharide biosynthesis, secretion systems, and nonribosomal peptide and polyketide synthase (NRPS/PKS) clusters in response to temperature changes. Deletion mutations of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) clusters 2, 11, 14 (syrbactin), and 15 (malleipeptin) in wild-type and ΔII2523 backgrounds also reveals the contribution of these BGCs to biofilm formation and colony morphology in addition to inhibition of Bacillus subtilis and Rhizoctonia solani. Our findings suggest that II2523 impacts the regulation of genes that contribute to biofilm formation and competition. Characterization of cryptic BGCs under differing environmental conditions will allow for a better understanding of the role of secondary metabolites in the context of biofilm formation and microbe-microbe interactions.

scholarly journals Machine learning uncovers independently regulated modules in the Bacillus subtilis transcriptome

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Rychel ◽  
Anand V. Sastry ◽  
Bernhard O. Palsson
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Transcriptional Regulatory Network ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Gene Sets ◽  
Transcriptional Regulatory ◽  
Dependent Activity

AbstractThe transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) of Bacillus subtilis coordinates cellular functions of fundamental interest, including metabolism, biofilm formation, and sporulation. Here, we use unsupervised machine learning to modularize the transcriptome and quantitatively describe regulatory activity under diverse conditions, creating an unbiased summary of gene expression. We obtain 83 independently modulated gene sets that explain most of the variance in expression and demonstrate that 76% of them represent the effects of known regulators. The TRN structure and its condition-dependent activity uncover putative or recently discovered roles for at least five regulons, such as a relationship between histidine utilization and quorum sensing. The TRN also facilitates quantification of population-level sporulation states. As this TRN covers the majority of the transcriptome and concisely characterizes the global expression state, it could inform research on nearly every aspect of transcriptional regulation in B. subtilis.

scholarly journals The Role of the Motility of Methylobacterium in Bacterial Interactions in Drinking Water

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erifyli Tsagkari ◽  
William Sloan
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Bacterial Motility ◽  
Water Industry ◽  
Water Pipes ◽  
Bacterial Interactions ◽  
Available Energy ◽  
Potential Tool

Bacterial motility is one important factor that affects biofilm formation. In drinking water there are key bacteria in aggregation, whose biology acts to enhance the formation of biofilms. However, it is unclear whether the motility of these key bacteria is an important factor for the interactions between bacteria in drinking water, and, subsequently, in the formation of aggregates, which are precursors to biofilms. Thus, the role of the motility of one of these key bacteria, the Methylobacterium strain DSM 18358, was investigated in the interactions between bacteria in drinking water. The motility of pure Methylobacterium colonies was initially explored; if it was affected by the viscosity of substrate, the temperature, the available energy and the type of substrate. Furthermore, the role of Methylobacterium in the interactions between mixed drinking water bacteria was investigated under the mostly favourable conditions for the motility of Methylobacterium identified before. Overall, the motility of Methylobacterium was found to play a key role in the communication and interactions between bacteria in drinking water. Understanding the role of the motility of key bacteria in drinking water might be useful for the water industry as a potential tool to control the formation of biofilms in drinking water pipes.

scholarly journals The Twin Arginine Transport System Appears To Be Essential for Viability in Sinorhizobium meliloti

2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (19) ◽  
pp. 5173-5180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad S. Pickering ◽  
Ivan J. Oresnik
Keyword(s):  
Transport System ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Sinorhizobium Meliloti ◽  
Targeted Mutagenesis ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Unique Data ◽  
Arginine Transport ◽  
Tat Pathway ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Tat System

ABSTRACT The twin arginine transport (Tat) system is responsible for transporting prefolded proteins to the periplasmic space. The Tat pathway has been implicated in many bacterial cellular functions, including motility, biofilm formation, and pathogenesis and symbiosis. Since the annotation of Sinorhizobium meliloti Rm1021 genome suggests that there may be up to 94 putative Tat substrates, we hypothesized that characterizing the twin arginine transport system in this organism might yield unique data that could help in the understanding of twin arginine transport. To initiate this work we attempted a targeted mutagenesis of the tat locus. Despite repeated attempts using a number of different types of media, the attempts at mutation construction were unsuccessful unless the experiment was carried out in a strain that was merodiploid for tatABC. In addition, it was shown that a plasmid carrying tatABC was stable in the absence of antibiotic selection in a tat deletion background. Finally, fluorescence microscopy and live/dead assays of these cultures show a high proportion of dead and irregularly shaped cells, suggesting that the loss of tatABC is inversely correlated with viability. Taken together, the results of this work provide evidence that the twin arginine transport system of S. meliloti appears to be essential for viability under all the conditions that we had tested.

scholarly journals Differential Effects of Rare Specific Flavonoids on Compatible and Incompatible Strains in the Myrica gale-Frankia Actinorhizal Symbiosis

2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 2451-2460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Popovici ◽  
Gilles Comte ◽  
�milie Bagnarol ◽  
Nicole Alloisio ◽  
Pascale Fournier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Plant Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Spectroscopic Techniques ◽  
Plant Phenolics ◽  
Actinorhizal Symbiosis ◽  
Myrica Gale ◽  
Legume Symbiosis ◽  
Symbiotic Specificity

ABSTRACT Plant secondary metabolites, and specifically phenolics, play important roles when plants interact with their environment and can act as weapons or positive signals during biotic interactions. One such interaction, the establishment of mutualistic nitrogen-fixing symbioses, typically involves phenolic-based recognition mechanisms between host plants and bacterial symbionts during the early stages of interaction. While these mechanisms are well studied in the rhizobia-legume symbiosis, little is known about the role of plant phenolics in the symbiosis between actinorhizal plants and Frankia genus strains. In this study, the responsiveness of Frankia strains to plant phenolics was correlated with their symbiotic compatibility. We used Myrica gale, a host species with narrow symbiont specificity, and a set of compatible and noncompatible Frankia strains. M. gale fruit exudate phenolics were extracted, and 8 dominant molecules were purified and identified as flavonoids by high-resolution spectroscopic techniques. Total fruit exudates, along with two purified dihydrochalcone molecules, induced modifications of bacterial growth and nitrogen fixation according to the symbiotic specificity of strains, enhancing compatible strains and inhibiting incompatible ones. Candidate genes involved in these effects were identified by a global transcriptomic approach using ACN14a strain whole-genome microarrays. Fruit exudates induced differential expression of 22 genes involved mostly in oxidative stress response and drug resistance, along with the overexpression of a whiB transcriptional regulator. This work provides evidence for the involvement of plant secondary metabolites in determining symbiotic specificity and expands our understanding of the mechanisms, leading to the establishment of actinorhizal symbioses.

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