Bacterial Community Morphogenesis Is Intimately Linked to the Intracellular Redox State
Abstract
Many microbial species form multicellular structures comprising elaborate wrinkles and concentric rings, yet the rules governing their architecture are poorly understood. The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces phenazines, small molecules that act as alternate electron acceptors to oxygen and nitrate to oxidize the intracellular redox state and that influence biofilm morphogenesis. Here, we show that the depth occupied by cells within colony biofilms correlates well with electron acceptor availability. Perturbations in the environmental provision, endogenous production, and utilization of electron acceptors affect colony development in a manner consistent with redox control. Intracellular NADH levels peak before the induction of colony wrinkling. These results suggest that redox imbalance is a major factor driving the morphogenesis of P. aeruginosa biofilms and that wrinkling itself is an adaptation that maximizes oxygen accessibility and thereby supports metabolic homeostasis. This type of redox-driven morphological change is reminiscent of developmental processes that occur in metazoans.
Additional Information
© 2013 American Society for Microbiology. Received 21 December 2012. Accepted 27 December 2012. Published ahead of print 4 January 2013. We thank W. Ziebis, P. Girguis, G. Squyres, and D. Chapman for technical assistance. This research was supported by funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) (L.E.P.D., A.P.-W., R.C.H., and D.K.N.), a Gilliam fellowship from the HHMI (C.O.), an IGERT fellowship from the NSF (H.S.), and a startup fund from Columbia University to L.E.P.D. D.K.N. is an HHMI Investigator.Attached Files
Published - J._Bacteriol.-2013-Dietrich-1371-80.pdf
Supplemental Material - zjb999092466so1.pdf
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Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC3624522
- Eprint ID
- 38290
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20130506-103435647
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Columbia University
- Created
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2013-05-06Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences