Metabolomics,Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

Dataset Information

Microcolony formation by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires pyruvate and pyruvate fermentation.

ABSTRACT: A hallmark of the biofilm architecture is the presence of microcolonies. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms governing microcolony formation. In the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, microcolony formation is dependent on the two-component regulator MifR, with mifR mutant biofilms exhibiting an overall thin structure lacking microcolonies, and overexpression of mifR resulting in hyper-microcolony formation. Here, we made use of the distinct MifR-dependent phenotypes to elucidate mechanisms associated with microcolony formation. Using global transcriptomic and proteomic approaches, we demonstrate that cells located within microcolonies experience stressful, oxygen limited, and energy starving conditions, as indicated by the activation of stress response mechanisms and anaerobic and fermentative processes, in particular pyruvate fermentation. Inactivation of genes involved in pyruvate utilization including uspK, acnA and ldhA abrogated microcolony formation in a manner similar to mifR inactivation. Moreover, depletion of pyruvate from the growth medium impaired biofilm and microcolony formation, while addition of pyruvate significantly increased microcolony formation. Addition of pyruvate partly restored microcolony formation in M-bM-^HM-^FmifR biofilms. Moreover, addition of pyruvate to or expression of mifR in lactate dehydrogenase (ldhA) mutant biofilms did not restore microcolony formation. Consistent with the finding of denitrification genes not demonstrating distinct expression patterns in biofilms forming or lacking microcolonies, addition of nitrate did not alter microcolony formation. Our findings indicate the fermentative utilization of pyruvate to be a microcolony-specific adaptation to the oxygen limitation and energy starvation of the P. aeruginosa biofilm environment. For biofilm growth experiments, three independent replicates of P. aeruginosa strains PAO1 and M-NM-^TmifR were grown as biofilms in a flow-through system using a once-through continuous flow tube reactor system for biofilm sample collection and in flow cells (BioSurface Technologies) for the analysis of biofilm architecture as previously described (Sauer et al., 2002, Sauer et al., 2004, Petrova & Sauer, 2009). Cells were treated with RNAprotect (Qiagen) and total RNA was extracted using an RNeasy mini purification kit (Qiagen) per the manufacturerM-bM-^@M-^Ys instructions. RNA quality and the presence of residual DNA were checked on an Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 electrophoretic system pre- and post-DNase treatment. Ten micrograms of total RNA was used for cDNA synthesis, fragmentation, and labeling according to the Affymetrix GeneChip P. aeruginosa genome array expression analysis protocol. Sauer, K., A. K. Camper, G. D. Ehrlich, J. W. Costerton & D. G. Davies, (2002) Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays multiple phenotypes during development as a biofilm. J. Bacteriol. 184: 1140-1154. Sauer, K., M. C. Cullen, A. H. Rickard, L. A. H. Zeef, D. G. Davies & P. Gilbert, (2004) Characterization of nutrient-induced dispersion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm. J. Bacteriol. 186: 7312-7326. Petrova, O. E. & K. Sauer, (2009) A novel signaling network essential for regulating Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development. PLoS Pathogens 5: e1000668.

ORGANISM(S): Pseudomonas aeruginosa

SUBMITTER: Michael Schurr

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-35286 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Biofilms are surface-adhered bacterial communities encased in an extracellular matrix composed of polysaccharides, proteins, and extracelluar (e)DNA, with eDNA being required for the formation and integrity of biofilms. Here we demonstrate that the spatial and temporal release of eDNA is regulated by BfmR, a regulator essential for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development. The expression of bfmR coincided with localized cell death and DNA release, with high eDNA concentrations localized to the outer part of microcolonies in the form of a ring and as a cap on small clusters. Additionally, eDNA release and cell lysis increased significantly following bfmR inactivation. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling indicated that bfmR was required for repression of genes associated with bacteriophage assembly and bacteriophage-mediated lysis. In order to determine which of these genes were directly regulated by BfmR, we utilized chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis to identify the promoter of PA0691, termed here phdA, encoding a previously undescribed homologue of the prevent-host-death (Phd) family of proteins. Lack of phdA expression coincided with impaired biofilm development, increased cell death and bacteriophage release, a phenotype comparable to ΔbfmR. Expression of phdA in ΔbfmR biofilms restored eDNA release, cell lysis, release of bacteriophages, and biofilm formation to wild type levels. Moreover, overexpression of phdA rendered P. aeruginosa resistant to lysis mediated by superinfective bacteriophage Pf4 which was only detected in biofilms. The expression of bfmR was stimulated by conditions resulting in membrane perturbation and cell lysis. Thus, we propose that BfmR regulates biofilm development by controlling bacteriophage-mediated lysis and thus, cell death and eDNA release, via PhdA. For biofilm growth experiments, three independent replicates of P. aeruginosa strains PAO1 and ΔbfmR were grown as biofilms in a flow-through system using a once-through continuous flow tube reactor system for biofilm sample collection and in flow cells (BioSurface Technologies) for the analysis of biofilm architecture as previously described (Sauer et al., 2002, Sauer et al., 2004, Petrova & Sauer, 2009). Cells were treated with RNAprotect (Qiagen), and total RNA was extracted using an RNeasy mini purification kit (Qiagen) per the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA quality and the presence of residual DNA were checked on an Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 electrophoretic system pre- and post-DNase treatment. Ten micrograms of total RNA was used for cDNA synthesis, fragmentation, and labeling according to the Affymetrix GeneChip P. aeruginosa genome array expression analysis protocol. Sauer, K., A. K. Camper, G. D. Ehrlich, J. W. Costerton & D. G. Davies, (2002) Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays multiple phenotypes during development as a biofilm. J. Bacteriol. 184: 1140-1154. Sauer, K., M. C. Cullen, A. H. Rickard, L. A. H. Zeef, D. G. Davies & P. Gilbert, (2004) Characterization of nutrient-induced dispersion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm. J. Bacteriol. 186: 7312-7326. Petrova, O. E. & K. Sauer, (2009) A novel signaling network essential for regulating Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development. PLoS Pathogens 5: e1000668.

Project description:Bacteria growing in biofilms are physiologically heterogeneous, due in part to their adaptation to local environmental conditions. Here, we characterized the local transcriptional responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa growing in biofilms by using microarray analysis of isolated biofilm subpopulations. The results demonstrated that cells at the top of the biofilms had high mRNA abundances for genes involved in general metabolic functions, while mRNAs for these housekeeping genes were low in cells at the bottom of the biofilms. Selective GFP labeling showed that cells at the top of the biofilm were actively dividing. However, the dividing cells had high mRNAs levels for genes regulated by the hypoxia induced regulator, Anr. Slow-growing cells deep in the biofilms had little expression of Anr-regulated genes and may have experienced long-termanoxia. Transcripts for ribosomal proteins were primarily associated with the metabolically active cell fraction, while ribosomal RNAs were abundant throughout the biofilms, indicating that ribosomes are stably maintained even in slowly growing cells. Consistent with these results was the identification of mRNAs for ribosome hibernation factors (rmf and PA4463) at the bottom of the biofilms. A P. aeruginosa M-bM-^HM-^Frmf strain had increased uptake of the membrane integrity stain, propidium iodide. Using selective GFP labeling and cell sorting, we showed that the dividing cells were more susceptible to tobramycin and ciprofloxacin than the dormant subpopulation. The results demonstrate that in thick P. aeruginosa biofilms, cells are physiologically distinct spatially, with cells deep in the biofilm in a viable but antibiotic-tolerant slow-growth state. 52-hour Pseudomonas aeruginosa TSA colony biofilms were cryoembedded, thin sectioned, and laser dissected (LCM) to obtain samples from the top and bottom 50 M-BM-5m of the biofilms. 9 sections per biofilm were pooled. RNA was extracted with the RNeasy Micro kit, Turbo DNase treated, poly(A) tailed, and amplified using the Quantitect WTA kit. After clean up, the resulting product was fragmented and end labeled before hybridization.

Project description:Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can infect oral mucosal surfaces despite being under continuous flow from saliva. Previous studies have shown that under specific conditions C. albicans will form microcolonies that more closely resemble the biofilms formed in vivo than standard in vitro biofilm models. However, very little is known about these microcolonies, particularly genomic differences between these specialized biofilm structures and the traditional in vitro biofilms. In this study, we used a novel flow system, in which C. albicans spontaneously forms microcolonies, to further characterize the architecture of fungal microcolonies and their genomics compared to non-microcolony conditions. Fungal microcolonies arise from radially branching filamentous hyphae that increasingly intertwine with one another to form extremely dense biofilms, and closely resemble the architecture of in vivo oropharyngeal candidiasis. We identified 20 core microcolony genes that were differentially regulated in flow-induced microcolonies using RNA-seq. These genes included HWP1, ECE1, IHD1, PLB1, HYR1, PGA10, and SAP5. To better understand the regulatory elements for microcolonies, we utilized a predictive algorithm to discover ten transcriptional regulators potentially involved in microcolony formation. Of these transcription factors, we found that six played a key role in microcolony formation and development (Rob1, Ndt80, Efg1, Sfl1, Sfl2, and Nrg1). We also found that Hwp1, Sap5, Pga10, and all the microcolony regulators promoted adhesion and invasion of the microcolonies to oral epithelium. Furthermore, epithelial cells infected with deletion mutants of ROB1, NDT80, SFL2, EFG1, and MCM1 had reduced immune response, evidenced by reduced phosphorylation of MKP1 and c-Fos, key signal transducers in the hyphal invasion response. This profile of microcolony transcriptional regulators more closely reflects Sfl1 and Sfl2 hyphal regulatory networks than biofilm regulatory networks, suggesting that hyphal morphogenesis plays a more central role in the development of flow-induced microcolonies.

Dataset Information

Microcolony formation by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires pyruvate and pyruvate fermentation.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure