scholarly journals Pseudomonas aeruginosa Exhibits Sliding Motility in the Absence of Type IV Pili and Flagella

2007 ◽  
Vol 190 (8) ◽  
pp. 2700-2708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Murray ◽  
Barbara I. Kazmierczak
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Nitrogen Sources ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Swarming Motility ◽  
Regulatory Pathways ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Surfactant Production ◽  
Adhesive Interactions ◽  
Transposon Insertions ◽  
Sliding Motility

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits swarming motility on 0.5 to 1% agar plates in the presence of specific carbon and nitrogen sources. We have found that PAO1 double mutants expressing neither flagella nor type IV pili (fliC pilA) display sliding motility under the same conditions. Sliding motility was inhibited when type IV pilus expression was restored; like swarming motility, it also decreased in the absence of rhamnolipid surfactant production. Transposon insertions in gacA and gacS increased sliding motility and restored tendril formation to spreading colonies, while transposon insertions in retS abolished motility. These changes in motility were not accompanied by detectable changes in rhamnolipid surfactant production or by the appearance of bacterial surface structures that might power sliding motility. We propose that P. aeruginosa requires flagella during swarming to overcome adhesive interactions mediated by type IV pili. The apparent dependence of sliding motility on environmental cues and regulatory pathways that also affect swarming motility suggests that both forms of motility are influenced by similar cohesive factors that restrict translocation, as well as by dispersive factors that facilitate spreading. Studies of sliding motility may be particularly well-suited for identifying factors other than pili and flagella that affect community behaviors of P. aeruginosa.

scholarly journals The Swarming Motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Is Blocked by Cranberry Proanthocyanidins and Other Tannin-Containing Materials

2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (9) ◽  
pp. 3061-3067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Che O'May ◽  
Nathalie Tufenkji
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Bacterial Adhesion ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Hydrolyzable Tannin ◽  
Swarming Motility ◽  
Subsequent Formation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Derivatives Of ◽  
Growth Experiments

ABSTRACTBacterial motility plays a key role in the colonization of surfaces by bacteria and the subsequent formation of resistant communities of bacteria called biofilms. Derivatives of cranberry fruit, predominantly condensed tannins called proanthocyanidins (PACs) have been reported to interfere with bacterial adhesion, but the effects of PACs and other tannins on bacterial motilities remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated whether cranberry PAC (CPAC) and the hydrolyzable tannin in pomegranate (PG; punicalagin) affected the levels of motilities exhibited by the bacteriumPseudomonas aeruginosa. This bacterium utilizes flagellum-mediated swimming motility to approach a surface, attaches, and then further spreads via the surface-associated motilities designated swarming and twitching, mediated by multiple flagella and type IV pili, respectively. Under the conditions tested, both CPAC and PG completely blocked swarming motility but did not block swimming or twitching motilities. Other cranberry-containing materials and extracts of green tea (also rich in tannins) were also able to block or impair swarming motility. Moreover, swarming bacteria were repelled by filter paper discs impregnated with many tannin-containing materials. Growth experiments demonstrated that the majority of these compounds did not impair bacterial growth. When CPAC- or PG-containing medium was supplemented with surfactant (rhamnolipid), swarming motility was partially restored, suggesting that the effective tannins are in part acting by a rhamnolipid-related mechanism. Further support for this theory was provided by demonstrating that the agar surrounding tannin-induced nonswarming bacteria was considerably less hydrophilic than the agar area surrounding swarming bacteria. This is the first study to show that natural compounds containing tannins are able to blockP. aeruginosaswarming motility and that swarming bacteria are repelled by such compounds.

scholarly journals Swarming of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Is Dependent on Cell-to-Cell Signaling and Requires Flagella and Pili

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (21) ◽  
pp. 5990-5996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilo Köhler ◽  
Lasta Kocjancic Curty ◽  
Francisco Barja ◽  
Christian van Delden ◽  
Jean-Claude Pechère
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Cell Signaling ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Swarming Motility ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Surface Motility ◽  
Swarming Behavior

ABSTRACT We describe swarming in Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a third mode of surface translocation in addition to the previously described swimming and twitching motilities. Swarming in P. aeruginosa is induced on semisolid surfaces (0.5 to 0.7% agar) under conditions of nitrogen limitation and in response to certain amino acids. Glutamate, aspartate, histidine, or proline, when provided as the sole source of nitrogen, induced swarming, while arginine, asparagine, and glutamine, among other amino acids, did not sustain swarming. Cells from the edge of the swarm were about twice as long as cells from the swarm center. In both instances, bacteria possessing two polar flagella were observed by light and electron microscopy. While afliC mutant of P. aeruginosa displayed slightly diminished swarming, a pilR and a pilA mutant, both deficient in type IV pili, were unable to swarm. Furthermore, cells with mutations in the las cell-to-cell signaling system showed diminished swarming behavior, while rhlmutants were completely unable to swarm. Evidence is presented for rhamnolipids being the actual surfactant involved in swarming motility, which explains the involvement of the cell-to-cell signaling circuitry of P. aeruginosa in this type of surface motility.

scholarly journals Swarming of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Is Controlled by a Broad Spectrum of Transcriptional Regulators, Including MetR

2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (18) ◽  
pp. 5592-5602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy T. Y. Yeung ◽  
Ellen C. W. Torfs ◽  
Farzad Jamshidi ◽  
Manjeet Bains ◽  
Irith Wiegand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Virulence Gene ◽  
Swarming Motility ◽  
Regulatory Mutants ◽  
Virulence Gene Expression ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Regulator Genes ◽  
Transposon Insertions

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits swarming motility on semisolid surfaces (0.5 to 0.7% agar). Swarming is a more than just a form of locomotion and represents a complex adaptation resulting in changes in virulence gene expression and antibiotic resistance. In this study, we used a comprehensive P. aeruginosa PA14 transposon mutant library to investigate how the complex swarming adaptation process is regulated. A total of 233 P. aeruginosa PA14 transposon mutants were verified to have alterations in swarming motility. The swarming-associated genes functioned not only in flagellar or type IV pilus biosynthesis but also in processes as diverse as transport, secretion, and metabolism. Thirty-three swarming-deficient and two hyperswarming mutants had transposon insertions in transcriptional regulator genes, including genes encoding two-component sensors and response regulators; 27 of these insertions were newly identified. Of the 25 regulatory mutants whose swarming motility was highly impaired (79 to 97%), only 1 (a PA1458 mutant) had a major defect in swimming, suggesting that this regulator might influence flagellar synthesis or function. Twitching motility, which requires type IV pili, was strongly affected in only two regulatory mutants (pilH and PA2571 mutants) and was moderately affected in three other mutants (algR, ntrB, and nosR mutants). Microarray analyses were performed to compare the gene expression profile of a swarming-deficient PA3587 mutant to that of the wild-type PA14 strain under swarming conditions. PA3587 showed 63% homology to metR, which encodes a regulator of methionine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli. The observed dysregulation in the metR mutant of nine different genes required for swarming motility provided a possible explanation for the swarming-deficient phenotype of this mutant.

scholarly journals Aztreonam Lysine Increases the Activity of Phages E79 and phiKZ against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Carly M. Davis ◽  
Jaclyn G. McCutcheon ◽  
Jonathan J. Dennis
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Burst Size ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Biofilm Growth ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Type Iv ◽  
Alternative Treatment Option ◽  
One Step ◽  
Step Growth

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pernicious bacterial pathogen that is difficult to treat because of high levels of antibiotic resistance. A promising alternative treatment option for such bacteria is the application of bacteriophages; the correct combination of phages plus antibiotics can produce synergistic inhibitory effects. In this study, we describe morphological changes induced by sub-MIC levels of the antibiotic aztreonam lysine (AzLys) on P. aeruginosa PA01, which may in part explain the observed phage–antibiotic synergy (PAS). One-step growth curves for phage E79 showed increased adsorption rates, decreased infection latency, accelerated time to lysis and a minor reduction in burst size. Phage E79 plus AzLys PAS was also able to significantly reduce P. aeruginosa biofilm growth over 3-fold as compared to phage treatment alone. Sub-inhibitory AzLys-induced filamentation of P. aeruginosa cells resulted in loss of twitching motility and a reduction in swimming motility, likely due to a reduction in the number of polar Type IV pili and flagella, respectively, on the filamented cell surfaces. Phage phiKZ, which uses Type IV pili as a receptor, did not exhibit increased activity with AzLys at lower sub-inhibitory levels, but still produced phage–antibiotic synergistic killing with sub-inhibitory AzLys. A one-step growth curve indicates that phiKZ in the presence of AzLys also exhibits a decreased infection latency and moderately undergoes accelerated time to lysis. In contrast to prior PAS studies demonstrating that phages undergo delayed time to lysis with cell filamentation, these PAS results show that phages undergo accelerated time to lysis, which therefore suggests that PAS is dependent upon multiple factors, including the type of phages and antibiotics used, and the bacterial host being tested.

scholarly journals Cryo-ET Characterization of Novel Cellular Extrusions in Escherichia coli Induced by the Major Subunit Protein of Type IV Pili, PilA, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (S1) ◽  
pp. 280-282
Author(s):  
Juan Sanchez ◽  
Daniel Parrell ◽  
Alba Gonzalez-Rivera ◽  
Nicoleta Ploscariu ◽  
Katrina Forest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Subunit Protein ◽  
Type Iv

scholarly journals Biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa wild type, flagella and type IV pili mutants

2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1511-1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikkel Klausen ◽  
Arne Heydorn ◽  
Paula Ragas ◽  
Lotte Lambertsen ◽  
Anders Aaes-Jørgensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Type Iv Pili ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Type Iv
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