Project description:Microorganisms exist almost exclusively in interactive multispecies communities, but genetic determinants of the fitness of interacting bacteria, and accessible adaptive pathways, remain uncharacterized. Here, using a two-species system, we studied the antagonism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa against Escherichia coli. Our unbiased genome-scale approach enabled us to identify multiple factors that explained the entire antagonism observed. We discovered both forms of ecological competition-sequestration of iron led to exploitative competition, while phenazine exposure engendered interference competition. We used laboratory evolution to discover adaptive evolutionary trajectories in our system. In the presence of P. aeruginosa toxins, E. coli populations showed parallel molecular evolution and adaptive convergence at the gene-level. The multiple resistance pathways discovered provide novel insights into mechanisms of toxin entry and activity. Our study reveals the molecular complexity of a simple two-species interaction, an important first-step in the application of systems biology to detailed molecular dissection of interactions within native microbiomes.
Project description:we develop an interspecies pluripotent stem cell (PSC) co-culture strategy and uncover a previously unknown mode of cell competition. Interspecies PSC competition occurs during primed but not naive pluripotency, and between evolutionarily distant species. We identified genes related to NF-κB signaling pathways, among others, were upregulated in loser cells and genetic inactivation of RELA, a core component of canonical NF-κB pathway, could overcome interspecies PSC competition. We further showed that an upstream regulator of the NF-κB signaling, MYD88 innate immune signal transduction adaptor, was also involved in promoting loser PSC elimination. Suppressing interspecies PSC competition via genetic perturbation of MYD88 or P65 improved engraftment of human cells in early post-implantation mouse embryos. Our study discovers a new paradigm of cell competition and paves the way for studying evolutionarily conserved cell competition mechanisms during early mammalian development. Strategies developed here to overcome interspecies PSC competition may facilitate interspecies organogenesis between evolutionary distant species, including humans.
Project description:Most eukaryotic transcription factors (TFs) are part of large protein families, with members of the same family (i.e. paralogous TFs) recognizing similar DNA-binding motifs but performing different regulatory functions. Many TF paralogs are co-expressed in the cell, and thus can compete for target sites across the genome. Here, we show that direct competition for DNA binding between TF paralogs is a major determinant of their genomic binding patterns. Using yeast proteins Cbf1 and Pho4 as our model system, we designed a high-throughput quantitative assay to capture the genomic binding profiles of competing TFs in a cell-free system. Our data shows that Cbf1 and Pho4 greatly influence each other’s occupancy by competing for their common putative genomic binding sites. The competition is different at different genomic sites, as dictated by the TFs' expression levels and their divergence in DNA-binding specificity and affinity. Analyses of ChIP-seq data show that the biophysical rules that dictate the competitive TF binding patterns in vitro are also followed in vivo, in the complex cellular environment. Furthermore, the Cbf1-Pho4 competition for genomic sites, as characterized in vitro using our new assay, plays a critical role in the specific activation of their target genes in the cell. Overall, our study highlights the importance of direct TF-TF competition for genomic binding and gene regulation by TF paralogs, and proposes an approach for studying this competition in a quantitative and high-throughput manner.
Project description:Bacteria use two-component signaling systems to adapt and respond to their competitors and changing environments. For instance, competitor bacteria may produce antibiotics and other bioactive metabolites and sequester nutrients. To survive, some species of bacteria escape competition through antibiotic production, biofilm formation, or motility. Specialized metabolite production and biofilm formation are relatively well understood for bacterial species in isolation. How bacteria control these functions when competitors are present is not well studied. To address fundamental questions relating to the competitive mechanisms of different species, we have developed a model system using two species of soil bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces sp. strain Mg1. Using this model, we previously found that linearmycins produced by Streptomyces sp. strain Mg1 cause lysis of B. subtilis cells and degradation of colony matrix. We identified strains of B. subtilis with mutations in the two-component signaling system yfiJK operon that confer dual phenotypes of specific linearmycin resistance and biofilm morphology. We determined that expression of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter yfiLMN operon, particularly yfiM and yfiN, is necessary for biofilm morphology. Using transposon mutagenesis, we identified genes that are required for YfiLMN-mediated biofilm morphology, including several chaperones. Using transcriptional fusions, we found that YfiJ signaling is activated by linearmycins and other polyene metabolites. Finally, using a truncated YfiJ, we show that YfiJ requires its transmembrane domain to activate downstream signaling. Taken together, these results suggest coordinated dual antibiotic resistance and biofilm morphology by a single multifunctional ABC transporter promotes competitive fitness of B. subtilisIMPORTANCE DNA sequencing approaches have revealed hitherto unexplored diversity of bacterial species in a wide variety of environments that includes the gastrointestinal tract of animals and the rhizosphere of plants. Interactions between different species in bacterial communities have impacts on our health and industry. However, many approaches currently used to study whole bacterial communities do not resolve mechanistic details of interspecies interactions, including how bacteria sense and respond to their competitors. Using a competition model, we have uncovered dual functions for a previously uncharacterized two-component signaling system involved in specific antibiotic resistance and biofilm morphology. Insights gleaned from signaling within interspecies interaction models build a more complete understanding of gene functions important for bacterial communities and will enhance community-level analytical approaches.