Dataset Information

Phagocyte chase behaviours: discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by amoebae.

ABSTRACT: Phagocytes are cells that pursue, engulf and kill bacteria. They include macrophages and neutrophils of the mammalian immune system, as well as free-living amoebae that hunt and engulf bacteria for food. Phagocytosis can result in diverse outcomes, ranging from sustenance to infection and colonization by either pathogens or beneficial symbionts-and thus, discrimination may be necessary to seek out good bacteria while avoiding bad ones. Here we tested whether the soil amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum can discriminate among different types of bacteria using behavioural assays where amoebae were presented with paired choices of different bacteria. We observed variation in the extent to which the amoebae pursued different types of bacteria, as well as preferential migration towards Gram-negative compared with Gram-positive bacteria. Response profiles were similar for amoebae that originated from different geographical locations, suggesting that chase preference is conserved across much of the species range. While prior work has demonstrated that bacteria use chemotaxis to seek out amoebae they colonize, our work suggests that the opposite also occurs-amoebae can preferentially direct themselves to particular bacteria in the environment. Preferential sensing and response may help to explain why some amoeba-bacteria associations are more common in nature than others.

SUBMITTER: Rashidi G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6371911 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Phagocyte chase behaviours: discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by amoebae.

Rashidi Ghazal G Ostrowski Elizabeth A EA

Biology letters 20190101 1

Phagocytes are cells that pursue, engulf and kill bacteria. They include macrophages and neutrophils of the mammalian immune system, as well as free-living amoebae that hunt and engulf bacteria for food. Phagocytosis can result in diverse outcomes, ranging from sustenance to infection and colonization by either pathogens or beneficial symbionts-and thus, discrimination may be necessary to seek out good bacteria while avoiding bad ones. Here we tested whether the soil amoeba Dictyostelium discoid ...[more]

PMID: 30958215

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Project description:BackgroundFor precise diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTI), and selection of the appropriate prescriptions for their treatment, we explored a simple and rapid method of discriminating gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in liquid samples.Methodology/principal findingsWe employed the NaOH-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution conventionally used for plasmid extraction from Escherichia coli and the automated urine particle analyzer UF-1000i (Sysmex Corporation) for our novel method. The NaOH-SDS solution was used to determine differences in the cell wall structures between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, since the tolerance to such chemicals reflects the thickness and structural differences of bacterial cell walls. The UF-1000i instrument was used as a quantitative bacterial counter. We found that gram-negative bacteria, including E. coli, in liquid culture could easily be lysed by direct addition of equal volumes of NaOH-SDS solution. In contrast, Enterococcus faecalis, which is a gram-positive bacterium, could not be completely lysed by the solution. We then optimized the reaction time of the NaOH-SDS treatment at room temperature by using 3 gram-positive and 4 gram-negative bacterial strains and determined that the optimum reaction time was 5 min. Finally, in order to evaluate the generalizability of this method, we treated 8 gram-positive strains and 8 gram-negative strains, or 4 gram-positive and 4 gram-negative strains incubated in voluntary urine from healthy volunteers in the same way and demonstrated that all the gram-positive bacteria were discriminated quantitatively from gram negative bacteria using this method.Conclusions/significanceUsing our new method, we could easily discriminate gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in liquid culture media within 10 min. This simple and rapid method may be useful for determining the treatment course of patients with UTIs, especially for those without a prior history of UTIs. The method may be easily applied in order to obtain additional information for clinical prescriptions from bacteriuria.

Project description:Gepotidacin is a first-in-class, novel triazaacenaphthylene antibiotic that inhibits bacterial DNA replication and has in vitro activity against susceptible and drug-resistant pathogens. Reference in vitro methods were used to investigate the MICs and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of gepotidacin and comparator agents for Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli Gepotidacin in vitro activity was also evaluated by using time-kill kinetics and broth microdilution checkerboard methods for synergy testing and for postantibiotic and subinhibitory effects. The MIC90 of gepotidacin for 50 S. aureus (including methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]) and 50 S. pneumoniae (including penicillin-nonsusceptible) isolates was 0.5 μg/ml, and for E. coli (n = 25 isolates), it was 4 μg/ml. Gepotidacin was bactericidal against S. aureus, S. pneumoniae, and E. coli, with MBC/MIC ratios of ≤4 against 98, 98, and 88% of the isolates tested, respectively. Time-kill curves indicated that the bactericidal activity of gepotidacin was observed at 4× or 10× MIC at 24 h for all of the isolates. S. aureus regrowth was observed in the presence of gepotidacin, and the resulting gepotidacin MICs were 2- to 128-fold higher than the baseline gepotidacin MICs. Checkerboard analysis of gepotidacin combined with other antimicrobials demonstrated no occurrences of antagonism with agents from multiple antimicrobial classes. The most common interaction when testing gepotidacin was indifference (fractional inhibitory concentration index of >0.5 to ≤4; 82.7% for Gram-positive isolates and 82.6% for Gram-negative isolates). The postantibiotic effect (PAE) of gepotidacin was short when it was tested against S. aureus (≤0.6 h against MRSA and MSSA), and the PAE-sub-MIC effect (SME) was extended (>8 h; three isolates at 0.5× MIC). The PAE of levofloxacin was modest (0.0 to 2.4 h), and the PAE-SME observed varied from 1.2 to >9 h at 0.5× MIC. These in vitro data indicate that gepotidacin is a bactericidal agent that exhibits a modest PAE and an extended PAE-SME against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria and merits further study for potential use in treating infections caused by these pathogens.

Dataset Information

Phagocyte chase behaviours: discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by amoebae.

Publications

Phagocyte chase behaviours: discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by amoebae.

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