Effect of chemical agents on swarming of Bacillus species

Abstract

N . THAMPURAN AND P. K. SURENDRAN. 1996. The effect of 58 chemical compounds belonging to different categories, viz. antibiotics, detergents, surfactants, nutrients and salts of organic and inorganic acids, were tested on swarming of Bacillus species comprising B. coagulans, B. circulans, B. alvei and B. subtilis by spot inoculation method.Carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids and other nutrient compounds such as peptone, with the exception of vitamin-free casamino acids induced considerable swarming. An inhibition of swarming was noticed by antiseptics, detergents and surfactants ; but the extent of swarming differed among the chemicals tested, their concentration and the bacterial strains. Most of the compounds that inhibited swarming were those which acted on flagellar mechanism and motility. T h e results support the theory that formation of lateral flagella is a prerequisite for inhibition of swarming.

Inhibitors of Bacterial Swarming Behavior

“…[127] Sodium dodecyl sulfate and bile salts such as sodiumt aurocholate and sodium desoxycholate strongly inhibited or completely blocked swarming of different strains of B. subtilis, Bacillusa lvei, Bacillus coagulans,a nd Bacillus circulans in the lower millimolar range, whereas polysorbates( Tween 20-80) even promoted swarming. [127] Bile salts also inhibited swarming of enterobacteria such as P. mirabilis. [128] Rhamnolipids of P. aeruginosa are ac lass of native surfactants with dual roles in reducing surface tension andm odulating tendril formation.…”

“…The effect of 58 chemical substances including detergents and surfactants was tested against Bacillus swarming . Sodium dodecyl sulfate and bile salts such as sodium taurocholate and sodium desoxycholate strongly inhibited or completely blocked swarming of different strains of B. subtilis , Bacillus alvei , Bacillus coagulans , and Bacillus circulans in the lower millimolar range, whereas polysorbates (Tween 20–80) even promoted swarming . Bile salts also inhibited swarming of enterobacteria such as P. mirabilis .…”

Influence of aluminum on motility and swarming of Pseudomonas sp. and Arthrobacter sp.

“…had not been described up to then. In contrast, several species of Aeromonas , Vibrio , Bacillus , Clostridium , and nearly all Enterobacteriaceae have been shown to have the ability to swarm [9–11, 17]. Increasing Al concentration and decreasing pH caused a distinct decrease of swarming in Pseudomonas sp.…”

“…In a recent work AlCl 3 and CuSO 4 were found to be the most effective inorganic salts influencing motility [17]. Surprisingly, these authors did not investigate the pH effect on the swarming and motility of bacteria, although 58 different chemical compounds were tested.…”

Swarming motility and biofilm formation of Paenibacillus larvae, the etiological agent of American Foulbrood of honey bees (Apis mellifera)

“…A variety of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species exhibit swarming motility 31 . Within the genus Paenibacillus , several flagellated species like P. alvei 32 , P. dendritiformis 33 , and P. vortex 34 show swarming behaviour. Swarming is generally thought to facilitate rapid colonization of nutrient-rich environments and to accelerate biomass production 31 .…”