TY - JOUR
T1 - Coexistence facilitates interspecific biofilm formation in complex microbial communities
AU - Madsen, Jonas Stenløkke
AU - Røder, Henriette Lyng
AU - Russel, Jakob
AU - Sørensen, Helle
AU - Burmølle, Mette
AU - Sørensen, Søren Johannes
N1 - © 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - Social interactions in which bacteria respond to one another by modifying their phenotype are central determinants of microbial communities. It is known that interspecific interactions influence the biofilm phenotype of bacteria; a phenotype that is central to the fitness of bacteria. However, the underlying role of fundamental ecological factors, specifically coexistence and phylogenetic history, in biofilm formation remains unclear. This study examines how social interactions affect biofilm formation in multi-species co-cultures from five diverse environments. We found prevalence of increased biofilm formation among co-cultured bacteria that have coexisted in their original environment. Conversely, when randomly co-culturing bacteria across these five consortia, we found less biofilm induction and a prevalence of biofilm reduction. Reduction in biofilm formation was even more predominant when co-culturing bacteria from environments where long-term coexistence was unlikely to have occurred. Phylogenetic diversity was not found to be a strong underlying factor but a relation between biofilm induction and phylogenetic history was found. The data indicates that biofilm reduction is typically correlated with an increase in planktonic cell numbers, thus implying a behavioral response rather than mere growth competition. Our findings suggest that an increase in biofilm formation is a common adaptive response to long-term coexistence.
AB - Social interactions in which bacteria respond to one another by modifying their phenotype are central determinants of microbial communities. It is known that interspecific interactions influence the biofilm phenotype of bacteria; a phenotype that is central to the fitness of bacteria. However, the underlying role of fundamental ecological factors, specifically coexistence and phylogenetic history, in biofilm formation remains unclear. This study examines how social interactions affect biofilm formation in multi-species co-cultures from five diverse environments. We found prevalence of increased biofilm formation among co-cultured bacteria that have coexisted in their original environment. Conversely, when randomly co-culturing bacteria across these five consortia, we found less biofilm induction and a prevalence of biofilm reduction. Reduction in biofilm formation was even more predominant when co-culturing bacteria from environments where long-term coexistence was unlikely to have occurred. Phylogenetic diversity was not found to be a strong underlying factor but a relation between biofilm induction and phylogenetic history was found. The data indicates that biofilm reduction is typically correlated with an increase in planktonic cell numbers, thus implying a behavioral response rather than mere growth competition. Our findings suggest that an increase in biofilm formation is a common adaptive response to long-term coexistence.
U2 - 10.1111/1462-2920.13335
DO - 10.1111/1462-2920.13335
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 27119650
SN - 1462-2912
VL - 18
SP - 2565
EP - 2574
JO - Environmental Microbiology
JF - Environmental Microbiology
IS - 8
ER -