Conserved virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are required for killing Bacillus subtilis.
The multi-host pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, possesses an extraordinary versatility which makes it capable of surviving the adverse conditions provided by environmental, host, and, presumably, competing microbial factors in its natural habitats. Here, we investigated the P. aeruginosa-Bacillus subtilis interaction in laboratory conditions and found that some P. aeruginosa strains can outcompete B. subtilis in mixed planktonic cultures. This is accompanied by the loss of B. subtilis viability. The bactericidal activity of P. aeruginosa is measured on B. subtilis plate cultures. The bactericidal activity is attenuated in pqsA, mvfR, lasR, pilB, gacA, dsbA, rpoS, and phnAB mutants. These results suggest that P. aeruginosa utilizes a subset of conserved virulence pathways in order to survive the conditions provided by its bacterial neighbors.
Park
Shin-Young
SY
Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Republic of Korea.
Heo
Yun-Jeong
YJ
Choi
Young-Seok
YS
Déziel
Eric
E
Cho
You-Hee
YH
D000898:Antibiosis; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000254:growth & development*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003470:Culture Media; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D037521:Virulence Factors