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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2009, p. 1349-1354, Vol. 191, No. 4
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.01458-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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Queen Mary University of London, Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Centre for Infectious Disease, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, 4 Newark Street, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom
Received 16 October 2008/ Accepted 30 November 2008
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P. aeruginosa is a ubiquitous environmental bacterium and an opportunistic pathogen of humans (10, 17). Central to its survival in many different habitats is the ability to adapt and respond to different environmental stimulants and also to adopt a biofilm (surface-attached) lifestyle. It has been reported that in chronic respiratory infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients P. aeruginosa survives in thick, dehydrated, hypoxic airway mucus (21), and anaerobic or microaerobic conditions are also associated with other P. aeruginosa environmental (soils, bogs, and sediments) and infection-related (burn wound) habitats (7, 14, 18, 22). This has led several investigators to study the effect of anaerobiosis on the transcriptome and proteome of P. aeruginosa PAO1 grown in planktonic culture (1, 8, 16, 22). The results of two transcriptomic studies showed that the genes that encode R2 and F2 pyocins and at least one S-type pyocin were upregulated under anaerobic conditions, but this observation was not examined experimentally (1, 16). In this study, we focused on the biofilm mode of growth and investigated whether pyocins are produced in aerobic and anaerobic conditions and whether their induction can affect the population of a pyocin-sensitive isolate within mixed-culture biofilms.
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FIG. 1. Biofilm growth of P. aeruginosa strain PAO1 under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. White columns, biofilms grown under aerobic conditions; shaded columns, biofilms grown under anaerobic conditions. The temperature for both conditions was 37°C. Results shown are averages from two independent experiments.
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2.5-fold upregulated or downregulated under anaerobic biofilm conditions, respectively (P < 0.05; Welch Mann-Whitney test) (see Tables ST1 and ST2 in the supplemental material). Among the genes upregulated under anaerobic biofilm conditions were 39 sequential genes (PA0610 to PA0648). This region encodes the R-type (R2) and F-type (F2) pyocins and two pyocin-regulatory genes (prtN and prtR) (Table 1; see also Table ST1 in the supplemental material). In addition, the three S-type pyocins encoded by the genome of strain PAO1 (S5, encoded by PA0985; S2, encoded by PA1150; and an unnamed pyocin, encoded by PA3866) were also upregulated in biofilms grown under anaerobic conditions (Table 1). |
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TABLE 1. Pyocin-related genes that are upregulated under anaerobic biofilm conditions
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FIG. 2. Determination of pyocin activity in biofilms of strain PAO1. prtN, the prtN mutant. (A) Cell density of 2-day biofilms. White and shaded columns represent biofilms grown under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. (B) Results obtained using the pyocin overlay assay. Ten microliters of neat supernatant and 10-fold dilutions of supernatant were spotted onto TSA and covered with a soft agar overlay containing an indicator strain (DWW1). A, aerobic biofilm supernatant; An, anaerobic biofilm supernatant. Similar results were obtained when proteinase K (100 µg/ml), which is active against S-type pyocins (6), was incorporated into the overlay agar. Although this observation does not eliminate the possibility that S-type pyocins are active against strain DWW1, it is clear from this result that bactericidal activity can be attributed to R- or F-type pyocins. Results obtained using the planktonic growth inhibition assay, showing the effect of biofilm supernatant (aerobic [C] or anaerobic [D]) on growth of indicator strain DWW1. Filled diamonds, control (no added supernatant); open squares, 10-µl PAO1 biofilm supernatant added; open triangle, 10-µl prtN mutant biofilm supernatant added.
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Pyocins are known to be activated as part of the response to DNA damage. Briefly, an activated RecA protein cleaves PrtR (the negative regulator), and this permits expression of the gene that encodes the positive regulator (prtN). PrtN activates the expression of R-, F-, and S-type pyocin genes (12). To provide evidence that P. aeruginosa pyocins were responsible for this bactericidal activity, a chromosomal deletion mutant of prtN was constructed (see materials and methods in the supplemental material). We found that a deletion in prtN had no effect on biofilm cell density after 2 days of aerobic or anaerobic incubation at 37°C (Fig. 2A). We did find, however, that the prtN mutant produced little bactericidal activity when both the agar overlay (using 15 indicator strains) and planktonic growth inhibition (using indicator strains DWW1 and In1) assays were used (Fig. 2B, C, and D and Table ST3 in the supplemental material; also data not shown). These results demonstrate that pyocins are responsible for the increased bactericidal activity observed under anaerobic conditions. They also show that PrtN is integral to this induction, and therefore, any additional regulatory events are likely to occur further up the hierarchy of pyocin regulation than PrtN.
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FIG. 3. Bactericidal activities found at different biofilm time points (8, 14, 24, and 48 h). (A) Results obtained using the pyocin overlay assay. Ten microliters of neat supernatant from aerobic or anaerobic PAO1 biofilms was spotted onto TSA and covered with a soft agar overlay containing indicator strain DWW1. Lane 1, aerobic biofilms grown on 20% LB agar; lane 2, aerobic biofilms grown on 20% LB agar containing 1% KNO3; lane 3, anaerobic biofilms grown on 20% LB agar containing 1% KNO3. (B, C, and D) Results obtained using the planktonic growth inhibition assay. The results are averages for two independent biofilms harvested at each time point. Filled diamonds represent the control (no added supernatant), and results are also shown for cultures with biofilm supernatant added (10 µl) 8 h (open squares), 14 h (open triangles), 24 h (filled squares), and 48 h (filled triangles). Panels B and C show data for supernatants from aerobic PAO1 biofilms grown on 20% LB agar and on 20% LB agar containing 1% KNO3, respectively. Panel D shows data for supernatant from the anaerobic PAO1 biofilms used. An overnight culture of strain DWW1 was used as the indicator inoculum (for panels B and C, 10 µl of 100-fold diluted indicator culture was used, and for panel D, 10 µl of neat indicator culture was used).
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Both the aerobic and anaerobic biofilm results were verified using the planktonic growth inhibition assay (Fig. 3B, C, and D). Bactericidal activity against a neat initial inoculum of indicator strain DWW1 was observed for three anaerobic biofilm samples (14, 24, and 48 h), with the greatest activity observed in the 24-h anaerobic biofilm supernatant (Fig. 3D). Obvious bactericidal activity in 8- and 14-h aerobic biofilms was also found against a 100-fold diluted initial inoculum of indicator strain DWW1 (Fig. 3B and C). This result also shows that bactericidal activities in 14-, 24-, and 48-h anaerobic biofilm supernatants were greater than those observed with aerobic biofilm supernatants (similar results were obtained for activity against In1 [see Fig. S5B, C, and D in the supplemental material]).
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Firstly, when comparing the total biofilm population obtained from the two mixed-culture combinations used (PAO1-DWW1 Rifr and prtN mutant-DWW1 Rifr), no obvious difference was observed at both time points (8 and 24 h) and in both culture conditions (aerobic and anaerobic) used (Fig. 4A and B). However, when the results obtained using LB agar containing rifampin were analyzed, we found contrasting results for mixed-culture biofilms incubated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. For the aerobic mixed-culture biofilm analysis, we found that after 8- and 24-h incubations, there was an increase in the DWW1 Rifr population (
2.5-fold and
84-fold, respectively) in the prtN mutant-DWW1 Rifr biofilm coculture compared to the PAO1-DWW1 Rifr biofilm coculture (Fig. 4A). The activity after 24 h can be explained by pyocin-producing microcolonies coalescing with pyocin-sensitive microcolonies.
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FIG. 4. Effect of pyocin production on bacterial populations within mixed-culture biofilms incubated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Biofilm populations incubated under aerobic conditions (A) and anaerobic conditions (B). Shaded bars, total population (viable counts using LB agar); open bars, population isolated after culture on LB agar containing rifampin. prtN, isogenic prtN mutant of strain PAO1; DWW1 (referred to as DWW1 Rifr in the text) spontaneous rifampin-resistant mutant obtained from CF patient isolate DWW1.
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These results show that induction of pyocin production in both aerobic and anaerobic biofilms can influence the bacterial composition of mixed-culture biofilms. The 24-h anaerobic incubation results demonstrate the dramatic effect of high-level pyocin induction on the neighboring cells of a pyocin-susceptible strain within the tightly compact confines of a biofilm (Fig. 4B). Therefore, pyocin induction gives an isolate a distinct advantage when the isolate colonizes a niche in the presence of susceptible competitors.
Recent studies using microarray technology have shown that other conditions can affect strain PAO1 pyocin gene transcription. Hydrogen peroxide and ciprofloxacin were found to induce pyocin production, while ceftazidime was found to repress pyocin production (3-5). These data, together with our analysis of pyocin production in biofilm and planktonic culture (under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions), show that pyocin production is under significant environmental and growth-phase regulation. Previous studies using planktonic cultures have demonstrated that R-type pyocin production gives P. aeruginosa strain PA14 a competitive growth advantage when it is cocultured with other susceptible isolates (11). However, this is the first study to (i) observe pyocin production in biofilms, (ii) investigate the effect of oxygen availability on pyocin production, and (iii) observe the role of pyocins on bacterial population dynamics within biofilms.
It is known that biofilms are heterogeneous populations and that within mature aerobic biofilms, oxygen depletion has been demonstrated (23). The authors who determined this found using a drip-flow biofilm reactor that protein synthesis was restricted by oxygen availability to the upper layer (30 µm) of the biofilm. We found previously that confluent membrane filter biofilms grown under aerobic conditions had an average depth of 25 µm (48 h) (20), and while we cannot rule out the possibility that there are regions where oxygen is depleted that trigger localized pyocin production, our results clearly show that pyocin production is not high in confluent membrane filter biofilms incubated under aerobic conditions.
Pyocin production appears to be not just an in vitro phenomenon, as recent studies using serum from CF patients have shown that R-, F-, and S-type pyocins are produced during P. aeruginosa respiratory infection (2, 19). We are currently investigating pyocin production profiles of clinical and environmental isolates of P. aeruginosa.
R.D.W. was funded by a Barts and the London Charity nonclinical fellowship.
Published ahead of print on 5 December 2008. ![]()
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/. ![]()
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