The biofilm life cycle and virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are dependent on a filamentous prophage
- 13 November 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The ISME Journal
- Vol. 3 (3), 271-282
- https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2008.109
Abstract
Mature Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms undergo specific developmental events. Using a bacteriophage mutant, generated by deletion of the entire filamentous Pf4 prophage, we show that the phage is essential for several stages of the biofilm life cycle and that it significantly contributes to the virulence of P. aeruginosa in vivo. Here, we show for the first time that biofilms of the Pf4 phage-deficient mutant did not develop hollow centres or undergo cell death, typical of the differentiation process of wild-type (WT) P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms. Furthermore, microcolonies of the Pf4 mutant were significantly smaller in size and less stable compared with the WT biofilm. Small colony variants (SCVs) were detectable in the dispersal population of the WT biofilm at the time of dispersal and cell death, whereas no SCVs were detected in the effluent of the Pf4 mutant biofilm. This study shows that at the time when cell death occurs in biofilms of the WT, the Pf4 phage converts into a superinfective form, which correlates with the appearance of variants in the dispersal population. Unexpectedly, mice infected with the Pf4 mutant survived significantly longer than those infected with its isogenic WT strain, showing that Pf4 contributes to the virulence of P. aeruginosa. Hence, a filamentous prophage is a major contributor to the life cycle and adaptive behaviour of P. aeruginosa and offers an explanation for the prevalence of phage in this organism.Keywords
This publication has 57 references indexed in Scilit:
- Coevolution with viruses drives the evolution of bacterial mutation ratesNature, 2007
- Characterization of the integrated filamentous phage Pf5 and its involvement in small-colony formationMicrobiology, 2007
- Ultrastructural and electron energy‐loss spectroscopic analysis of an extracellular filamentous matrix of an environmental bacterial isolateEnvironmental Microbiology, 2007
- Phenotypic Diversification and Adaptation ofSerratia marcescensMG1 Biofilm-Derived MorphotypesJournal of Bacteriology, 2007
- Mutator and Antimutator Effects of the Bacteriophage P1hotGene ProductJournal of Bacteriology, 2006
- Biofilm Development and Cell Death in the Marine Bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicataApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2004
- Bacterial biofilms: from the Natural environment to infectious diseasesNature Reviews Microbiology, 2004
- Understanding biofilm resistance to antibacterial agentsNature Reviews Drug Discovery, 2003
- Vibrio cholerae produces a second enterotoxin, which affects intestinal tight junctions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1991
- DNA sequence of the filamentous bacteriophage Pf1Journal of Molecular Biology, 1991