Protein homeostasis impairment affects phenotypic heterogeneity of biofilms
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ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA1157907 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:Biofilms are well organized, cooperating communities of microorganisms encased in a self-produced extracellular matrix, providing resilience against external stress such as antimicrobial agents and host defenses. A hallmark of biofilms is their phenotypic heterogeneity, which enhances the overall growth and survival of the community. In this study, we demonstrate that removing the genes encoding the key molecular chaperones DnaK and trigger factor disrupts protein homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis and leads to the formation of extremely mucoid biofilms with aberrant architecture, compromised structural integrity, and altered phenotypic heterogeneity. These changes include a drastic reduction in the motile subpopulation and an overrepresentation of matrix producers and endospores. Overproduction of poly-γ-glutamic acid contributed crucially to the mucoid phenotype and aberrant biofilm architecture. Elevated temperatures led to protein homeostasis impairment resulting in mucoid and aberrant biofilm phenotypes. Our findings suggest that disruption of protein homeostasis, whether due to the absence of molecular chaperones or environmental factors, constrain biofilm formation.
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Project description:Stenotrophomonas maltophilia K279a diverges into subpopulations with distinct but reversible phenotypes of small and big colonies when challenged with ampicillin. This observation is consistent with the formation of long cell chains during exponential growth phase and the occurrence of mainly coccoid– or rod-shaped cells in liquid media. Further, scanning electron micrographs of SMK279a revealed that cells formed gigantic outer membrane vesicles in response to β-lactam treatment. RNA-seq analysis of small vs. big colonies unveiled that cells regulate at least seven genes differentially among colony morphotypes. Among those were the blaL1 and blaL2 genes the most strongly regulated ones with an eleven- and six-fold increased transcription, respectively. Further studies with promoter fusions of blaL1 and blaL2 genes implied that expression of both genes is also subject to high levels of phenotypic heterogeneous expression on a single cell level. Additional RNA-seq analysis of this homogenously versus heterogeneously blaL2 expressing cells identified comE homologue as differentially expressed, in which by the expression of extra copies of comE in S. maltophilia K279a reduced the level of those cells that were in a blaL2-ON model to 1% or lower. Together with genome-wide sequence analysis of cells from the different colony morphotypes, the data presented here suggests that phenotypic heterogeneity in S. maltophilia K279a is a result of non-genetic variations within isogenic populations and also polymorphisms in this strain do not influence β-lactamase resistance phenotype.
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