Extracellular polysaccharides comprise a major component of the biofilm matrix. Many species that are adept at biofilm formation have the capacity to produce multiple types of polysaccharides. Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces at least three extracellular polysaccharides, alginate, Pel and Psl, that have been implicated in biofilm development. Non-mucoid strains can use either Pel or Psl as the primary matrix structural polysaccharide. In this study, we evaluated a range of clinical and environmental P. aeruginosa isolates for their dependence on Pel and Psl for biofilm development. Mutational analysis demonstrates that Psl plays an important role in surface attachment for most isolates. However, there was significant strain-to-strain variability in the contribution of Pel and Psl to mature biofilm structure. This analysis led us to propose four classes of strains based upon their Pel and Psl functional and expression profiles. Our data also suggest that Pel and Psl can serve a redundant function as a structural scaffold in mature biofilms. We propose that redundancy could help preserve the capacity to produce a biofilm when exopolysaccharide genes are subjected to mutation. To test this we used PAO1, a common lab strain that primarily utilizes Psl in the matrix. As expected, a psl mutant strain initially produced a poor biofilm. After extended cultivation, we demonstrate that this strain acquired mutations that up-regulated expression of the Pel polysaccharide, demonstrating the utility of having a redundant scaffold exopolysaccharide. Collectively, our studies revealed both unique and functionally redundant roles for two distinct biofilm exopolysaccharides.

The Firmicutes are a phylum of bacteria that dominate numerous polymicrobial habitats of importance to human health and industry. Although these communities are often densely colonized, a broadly distributed contact-dependent mechanism of interbacterial antagonism utilized by Firmicutes has not been elucidated. Here we show that proteins belonging to the LXG polymorphic toxin family present in Streptococcus intermedius mediate cell contact- and Esx secretion pathway-dependent growth inhibition of diverse Firmicute species. The structure of one such toxin revealed a previously unobserved protein fold that we demonstrate directs the degradation of a uniquely bacterial molecule required for cell wall biosynthesis, lipid II. Consistent with our functional data linking LXG toxins to interbacterial interactions in S. intermedius, we show that LXG genes are prevalent in the human gut microbiome, a polymicrobial community dominated by Firmicutes. We speculate that interbacterial antagonism mediated by LXG toxins plays a critical role in shaping Firmicute-rich bacterial communities.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.26938.001

Summary Bacteroidetes are a phylum of Gram-negative bacteria abundant in mammalian-associated polymicrobial communities, where they impact digestion, immunity and resistance to infection. Despite extensive competition at high cell density that occurs in these settings, cell contact-dependent mechanisms of interbacterial antagonism, such as the type VI secretion system (T6SS), have not been defined in this group of organisms. Herein we report the bioinformatic and functional characterization of a T6SS-like pathway in diverse Bacteroidetes. Using prominent human gut commensal and soil-associated species, we demonstrate that these systems localize dynamically within the cell, export antibacterial proteins, and target competitor bacteria. The Bacteroidetes system is a distinct pathway with marked differences in gene content and high evolutionary divergence from the canonical T6S pathway. Our findings offer a potential molecular explanation for the abundance of Bacteroidetes in polymicrobial environments, the observed stability of Bacteroidetes in healthy humans, and the barrier presented by the microbiota against pathogens.