Interspecies surfactants serve as public goods enabling surface motility in <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>.

ABSTRACT: In most natural environments, bacteria live in polymicrobial communities where secreted molecules from neighboring species alter bacterial behaviors including motility, but such interactions are understudied. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a motile opportunistic pathogen that exists in diverse multispecies environments such as the soil and is frequently found in human wound and respiratory tract co-infections with other bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus. Here we show that P. aeruginosa can co-opt secreted surfactants from other species for flagellar-based surface motility. We found that exogenous surfactants from S. aureus, other bacteria, and interkingdom species enabled P. aeruginosa to switch from swarming to an alternative surface spreading motility

SUBMITTER: Warrell DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10802355 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature