Spatial structure affects phage efficacy in infecting dual-strain biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial viruses, or phage, are key members of natural microbial communities. Yet much research on bacterial-phage interactions has been conducted in liquid cultures involving single bacterial strains. Here we explored how bacterial diversity affects the success of lytic phage in structured communities. We infected a sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1 with a lytic phage Pseudomonas 352 in the presence versus absence of an insensitive P. aeruginosa strain PA14, in liquid culture versus colonies on agar. We found that both in liquid and in colonies, inter-strain competition reduced resistance evolution in the susceptible strain and decreased phage population size. However, while all sensitive bacteria died in liquid, bacteria in colonies could remain sensitive yet es

SUBMITTER: Testa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6828766 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature