scholarly journals Cyanobacteria use micro-optics to sense light direction

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Schuergers ◽  
Tchern Lenn ◽  
Ronald Kampmann ◽  
Markus V Meissner ◽  
Tiago Esteves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Light Source ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Small Cells ◽  
Unicellular Cyanobacterium ◽  
Light Sensing ◽  
High Resolution Image ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Micro Optics ◽  
Synechocystis Sp

Bacterial phototaxis was first recognized over a century ago, but the method by which such small cells can sense the direction of illumination has remained puzzling. The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 moves with Type IV pili and measures light intensity and color with a range of photoreceptors. Here, we show that individual Synechocystis cells do not respond to a spatiotemporal gradient in light intensity, but rather they directly and accurately sense the position of a light source. We show that directional light sensing is possible because Synechocystis cells act as spherical microlenses, allowing the cell to see a light source and move towards it. A high-resolution image of the light source is focused on the edge of the cell opposite to the source, triggering movement away from the focused spot. Spherical cyanobacteria are probably the world’s smallest and oldest example of a camera eye.

scholarly journals Modulation of Type IV pili phenotypic plasticity through a novel Chaperone-Usher system in Synechocystis sp.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anchal Chandra ◽  
Lydia-Maria Joubert ◽  
Devaki Bhaya
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Structural Modifications ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Phenotypic Transition ◽  
And Control ◽  
Camp Levels ◽  
Synechocystis Sp

AbstractControlling the transition from a multicellular motile state to a sessile biofilm is an important eco-physiological decision for most prokaryotes, including cyanobacteria. Photosynthetic and bio geochemically significant cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 (Syn6803) uses Type IV pili (TFP) for surface-associated motility and light-directed phototaxis. We report the identification of a novel Chaperone-Usher (CU) system in Syn6803 that regulate secretion of minor pilins as a means of stabilizing TFP morphology. These secreted minor-pilins aid in modifying TFP morphology to suit the adhesion state by forming cell to surface contacts when motility is not required. This morphotype is structurally distinct from TFP assembled during motile phase. We further demonstrate by examining mutants lacking either the CU system or the minor-pilins, which produce aberrant TFP, that are morphologically and functionally distinct from wild-type (WT). Thus, here we report that in Syn6803, CU system work independent of TFP biogenesis machinery unlike reported for other pathogenic bacterial systems and contributes to provide multifunctional plasticity to TFP. cAMP levels play an important role in controlling this switch. This phenotypic plasticity exhibited by the TFP, in response to cAMP levels would allow cells and cellular communities to adapt to rapidly fluctuating environments by dynamically transitioning between motile and sessile states.Significance of this workHow cyanobacterial communities cope with fluctuating or extreme environments is crucial in understanding their role in global carbon and nitrogen cycles. This work addresses the key question: how do cyanobacteria modulate external appendages, called Type IV pili, to effectively switch between motile and sessile biofilm states? We demonstrate that cells transition between forming strong cell-surface interactions indispensable for biofilm formation to forming cell-cell interactions that allow for coordinated movement crucial for social motility by functional/ structural modification of same TFP appendage. The second messenger, cAMP and a Chaperone-Usher secretion are indispensible to achieve these structural modifications of TFP and control the complex phenotypic transition. We have uncovered a strategy that Syn6803 has evolved to deal with molecular decision-making under uncertainty, which we call phenotypic plasticity. Here we demonstrate how a single motility appendage can be structurally modified to attain two antagonistic functions in order to meet the fluctuating environmental demands.

scholarly journals Type IV Pili-Independent Photocurrent Production by the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyuki A. Thirumurthy ◽  
Andrew Hitchcock ◽  
Angelo Cereda ◽  
Jiawei Liu ◽  
Marko S. Chavez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Synechocystis Sp ◽  
Pcc 6803

scholarly journals Minor pilin genes are involved in motility and natural competence in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Oeser ◽  
Thomas Wallner ◽  
Nils Schuergers ◽  
Annegret Wilde ◽  
Lenka Bucinska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Surface ◽  
Microarray Analysis ◽  
Natural Transformation ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Transcriptional Unit ◽  
Natural Competence ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Mutant Strains ◽  
Synechocystis Sp ◽  
Pcc 6803

Cyanobacteria synthesize type IV pili, which are known to be essential for motility, adhesion and natural competence. They consist of long flexible fibres that are primarily composed of the major pilin PilA1 in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. In addition, Synechocystis encodes less abundant pilin-like proteins, which are known as minor pilins. The transcription of the minor pilin genes pilA5, pilA6 and pilA9-pilA11 is inversely regulated in response to different conditions. In this study, we show that the minor pilin PilA5 is essential for natural transformation but is dispensable for motility and flocculation. In contrast, a set of minor pilins encoded by the pilA9-slr2019 transcriptional unit are necessary for motility but are dispensable for natural transformation. Neither pilA5-pilA6 nor pilA9-slr2019 are essential for pilus assembly as mutant strains showed type IV pili on the cell surface. Microarray analysis demonstrated that the transcription levels of known and newly predicted minor pilin genes change in response to surface contact. A total of 120 genes were determined to have altered transcription between planktonic and surface growth. Among these genes, 13 are located on the pSYSM plasmid. The results of our study indicate that different minor pilins facilitate distinct pilus functions.

Inter-Method Reliability of Pulse Volume Related Measures Derived Using Finger-Photoplethysmography

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 182-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenta Matsumura ◽  
Koichi Shimizu ◽  
Peter Rolfe ◽  
Masanori Kakimoto ◽  
Takehiro Yamakoshi
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Light Source ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Current Component ◽  
Psychophysiological Measures ◽  
Pulse Volume ◽  
Optical Paths ◽  
Sensor Positions

Abstract. Pulse volume (PV) and its related measures, such as modified normalized pulse volume (mNPV), direct-current component (DC), and pulse rate (PR), derived from the finger-photoplethysmogram (FPPG), are useful psychophysiological measures. Although considerable uncertainties exist in finger-photoplethysmography, little is known about the extent of the adverse effects on the measures. In this study, we therefore examined the inter-method reliability of each index across sensor positions and light intensities, which are major disturbance factors of FPPG. From the tips of the index fingers of 12 participants in a resting state, three simultaneous FPPGs having overlapping optical paths were recorded, with their light intensity being changed in three steps. The analysis revealed that the minimum values of three coefficients of Cronbach’s α for ln PV, ln mNPV, ln DC, and PR across positions were .948, .850, .922, and 1.000, respectively, and that those across intensities were .774, .985, .485, and .998, respectively. These findings suggest that ln mNPV and PR can be used for psychophysiological studies irrespective of minor differences in sensor attachment positions and light source intensity, whereas and ln DC can also be used for such studies but under the condition of light intensity being fixed.

scholarly journals Aztreonam Lysine Increases the Activity of Phages E79 and phiKZ against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Carly M. Davis ◽  
Jaclyn G. McCutcheon ◽  
Jonathan J. Dennis
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Burst Size ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Biofilm Growth ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Alternative Treatment Option ◽  
One Step ◽  
Step Growth

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pernicious bacterial pathogen that is difficult to treat because of high levels of antibiotic resistance. A promising alternative treatment option for such bacteria is the application of bacteriophages; the correct combination of phages plus antibiotics can produce synergistic inhibitory effects. In this study, we describe morphological changes induced by sub-MIC levels of the antibiotic aztreonam lysine (AzLys) on P. aeruginosa PA01, which may in part explain the observed phage–antibiotic synergy (PAS). One-step growth curves for phage E79 showed increased adsorption rates, decreased infection latency, accelerated time to lysis and a minor reduction in burst size. Phage E79 plus AzLys PAS was also able to significantly reduce P. aeruginosa biofilm growth over 3-fold as compared to phage treatment alone. Sub-inhibitory AzLys-induced filamentation of P. aeruginosa cells resulted in loss of twitching motility and a reduction in swimming motility, likely due to a reduction in the number of polar Type IV pili and flagella, respectively, on the filamented cell surfaces. Phage phiKZ, which uses Type IV pili as a receptor, did not exhibit increased activity with AzLys at lower sub-inhibitory levels, but still produced phage–antibiotic synergistic killing with sub-inhibitory AzLys. A one-step growth curve indicates that phiKZ in the presence of AzLys also exhibits a decreased infection latency and moderately undergoes accelerated time to lysis. In contrast to prior PAS studies demonstrating that phages undergo delayed time to lysis with cell filamentation, these PAS results show that phages undergo accelerated time to lysis, which therefore suggests that PAS is dependent upon multiple factors, including the type of phages and antibiotics used, and the bacterial host being tested.

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