Quorum sensing and motility mediate interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Agrobacterium tumefaciens in biofilm cocultures.

ABSTRACT: In the environment, multiple microbial taxa typically coexist as communities, competing for resources and, often, physically associated within biofilms. A dual-species cocultivation model has been developed by using two ubiquitous and well studied microbes Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.a.) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens (A.t.) as a tractable system to identify molecular mechanisms that underlie multispecies microbial associations. Several factors were found to influence coculture interactions. P.a. had a distinct growth-rate advantage in cocultures, increasing its relative abundance during planktonic and biofilm growth. P.a. also demonstrated a slight quorum-sensing-dependent increase in growth yield in liquid cocultures. P.a. dominated coculture biofilms, "blanketing" or burying immature A.t.

SUBMITTER: An D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1533783 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature