Vibrio cholerae filamentation promotes chitin surface attachment at the expense of competition in biofilms.

ABSTRACT: Collective behavior in spatially structured groups, or biofilms, is the norm among microbes in their natural environments. Though biofilm formation has been studied for decades, tracing the mechanistic and ecological links between individual cell morphologies and the emergent features of cell groups is still in its infancy. Here we use single-cell-resolution confocal microscopy to explore biofilms of the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae in conditions mimicking its marine habitat. Prior reports have noted the occurrence of cellular filamentation in V. cholerae, with variable propensity to filament among both toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains. Using a filamenting strain of V. cholerae O139, we show that cells with this morphotype gain a profound competitive advantage in c

SUBMITTER: Wucher BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6628660 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature