Growth-altering microbial interactions are responsive to chemical context.
Microbial interactions are ubiquitous in nature, and are equally as relevant to human wellbeing as the identities of the interacting microbes. However, microbial interactions are difficult to measure and characterize. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that they are not fixed, but dependent on environmental context. We present a novel workflow for inferring microbial interactions that integrates semi-automated image analysis with a colony stamping mechanism, with the overall effect of improving throughput and reproducibility of colony interaction assays. We apply our approach to infer interactions among bacterial species associated with the normal lung microbiome, and how those interactions are altered by the presence of benzo[a]pyrene, a carcinogenic compound found in cigarettes. We found that the presence of this single compound changed the interaction network, demonstrating that microbial interactions are indeed dynamic and responsive to local chemical context.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
Angela
A
Liu
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
Anne M
AM
Archer
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
Matthew B
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6492-8180
MB
Biggs
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
Jason A
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2769-5805
JA
Papin
D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene / Q000633:toxicity; D001580:Benzopyrenes / Q000633:toxicity; D002273:Carcinogens; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006190:Haemophilus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D056265:Microbial Interactions / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D064307:Microbiota / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008853:Microscopy; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D001580:Benzopyrenes; D002273:Carcinogens; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene