Inhibition of fungal colonization by Pseudoalteromonas tunicata provides a competitive advantage during surface colonization.

ABSTRACT: The marine epiphytic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata produces a range of extracellular secondary metabolites that inhibit an array of common fouling organisms, including fungi. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the ability to inhibit fungi provides P. tunicata with an advantage during colonization of a surface. Studies on a transposon-generated antifungal-deficient mutant of P. tunicata, FM3, indicated that a long-chain fatty acid-coenzyme A ligase is involved in the production of a broad-range antifungal compound by P. tunicata. Flow cell experiments demonstrated that production of an antifungal compound provided P. tunicata with a competitive advantage against a marine yeast isolate during surface colonization. This compound enabled P. tunicata to disrupt an already establi

SUBMITTER: Franks A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1563610 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature