Dataset Information

BdlA, DipA and induced dispersion contribute to acute virulence and chronic persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

ABSTRACT: The human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of causing both acute and chronic infections. Differences in virulence are attributable to the mode of growth: bacteria growing planktonically cause acute infections, while bacteria growing in matrix-enclosed aggregates known as biofilms are associated with chronic, persistent infections. While the contribution of the planktonic and biofilm modes of growth to virulence is now widely accepted, little is known about the role of dispersion in virulence, the active process by which biofilm bacteria switch back to the planktonic mode of growth. Here, we demonstrate that P. aeruginosa dispersed cells display a virulence phenotype distinct from those of planktonic and biofilm cells. While the highest activity of cytotoxic and degradative enzymes capable of breaking down polymeric matrix components was detected in supernatants of planktonic cells, the enzymatic activity of dispersed cell supernatants was similar to that of biofilm supernatants. Supernatants of non-dispersing ?bdlA biofilms were characterized by a lack of many of the degradative activities. Expression of genes contributing to the virulence of P. aeruginosa was nearly 30-fold reduced in biofilm cells relative to planktonic cells. Gene expression analysis indicated dispersed cells, while dispersing from a biofilm and returning to the single cell lifestyle, to be distinct from both biofilm and planktonic cells, with virulence transcript levels being reduced up to 150-fold compared to planktonic cells. In contrast, virulence gene transcript levels were significantly increased in non-dispersing ?bdlA and ?dipA biofilms compared to wild-type planktonic cells. Despite this, bdlA and dipA inactivation, resulting in an inability to disperse in vitro, correlated with reduced pathogenicity and competitiveness in cross-phylum acute virulence models. In contrast, bdlA inactivation rendered P. aeruginosa more persistent upon chronic colonization of the murine lung, overall indicating that dispersion may contribute to both acute and chronic infections.

SUBMITTER: Li Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4047105 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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BdlA, DipA and induced dispersion contribute to acute virulence and chronic persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Li Yi Y Petrova Olga E OE Su Shengchang S Lau Gee W GW Panmanee Warunya W Na Renuka R Hassett Daniel J DJ Davies David G DG Sauer Karin K

PLoS pathogens 20140605 6

The human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of causing both acute and chronic infections. Differences in virulence are attributable to the mode of growth: bacteria growing planktonically cause acute infections, while bacteria growing in matrix-enclosed aggregates known as biofilms are associated with chronic, persistent infections. While the contribution of the planktonic and biofilm modes of growth to virulence is now widely accepted, little is known about the role of dispersion in vir ...[more]

PMID: 24901523

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Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits flagellum-mediated swimming in liquid and swarming on hydrated surfaces under diverse nutrient conditions. Prior studies have implicated a phosphodiesterase, DipA, in regulating these flagellum-mediated motilities, but collectively, the necessity for DipA was unclear. In this study, we find that the medium composition conditionally constrains the influence of DipA on flagellar motility. We show that DipA exhibits more influence on minimal medium supplemented with glutamate or glucose, where flagellar motility was negated for the dipA mutant. Conversely, a dipA-deficient mutant exhibits flagellar motility when growing with LB Lennox broth and minimal medium supplemented with Casamino Acids. Swarming under these rich medium conditions occurs under elevated levels of c-di-GMP. We also demonstrate that the influence of DipA upon swimming often differs from that upon swarming, and we conclude that a direct comparison of the motility phenotypes is generally valid only when characterizing motility assay results from the same medium composition. Our results are consistent with the explanation that DipA is one of several phosphodiesterases responding to the nutrient environment sensed by P. aeruginosa On minimal medium with glutamate or glucose, DipA is dominant; however, on rich medium, the necessity of DipA is fully negated.IMPORTANCE Motile and ubiquitous bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa can quickly colonize surfaces and form biofilms in numerous environments such as water distribution systems, soil, and the human lung. To effectively disrupt bacterial colonization, it is imperative to understand how bacteria regulate motility in these different growth environments. Here, we show that the phosphodiesterase DipA is not required for flagellar motility under all nutrient conditions. Thus, the maintenance of intracellular c-di-GMP levels to promote flagellar motility or biofilm development must be conditionally regulated by differing phosphodiesterases in variation with select nutrient cues.

Dataset Information

BdlA, DipA and induced dispersion contribute to acute virulence and chronic persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Publications

BdlA, DipA and induced dispersion contribute to acute virulence and chronic persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Similar Datasets

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