Bacterial c-di-GMP has a key role in establishing host-microbe symbiosis.

ABSTRACT: Most microbes evolve faster than their hosts and should therefore drive evolution of host-microbe interactions. However, relatively little is known about the characteristics that define the adaptive path of microbes to host association. Here we identified microbial traits that mediate adaptation to hosts by experimentally evolving the free-living bacterium Pseudomonas lurida with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as its host. After ten passages, we repeatedly observed the evolution of beneficial host-specialist bacteria, with improved persistence in the nematode being associated with increased biofilm formation. Whole-genome sequencing revealed mutations that uniformly upregulate the bacterial second messenger, cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP). We subsequently generated mutants with upregul

SUBMITTER: Obeng N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10522488 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature