Identification of Functions Affecting Predator-Prey Interactions between Myxococcus xanthus and Bacillus subtilis

Müller, Susanne; Strack, Sarah N.; Ryan, Sarah E; Shawgo, Mary E.; Walling, Abigail; Harris, Susanna L; Chambers, Chris; Boddicker, Jennifer D.; Kirby, John R.

doi:10.1128/jb.00575-16

Cited by 34 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Myxoprincomide is a linear peptide of nine amino acids that is synthesized by a hybrid biosynthetic module of non-ribosomal peptide/polyketide synthases (Cortina et al, 2012), but its mode of action remains unknown. Lack of myxoprincomide reduces M. xanthus growth on B. subtilis and increases the number of surviving prey cells (Müller et al, 2016). However, myxoprincomide is not required for growth of M. xanthus on E. coli, and also not for growth on a B. subtilis mutant that is unable to produce the antibiotic bacillaene (Müller et al, 2014(Müller et al, , 2016.…”

Section: How Are Prey Cells Lysed and Consumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lack of myxoprincomide reduces M. xanthus growth on B. subtilis and increases the number of surviving prey cells (Müller et al, 2016). However, myxoprincomide is not required for growth of M. xanthus on E. coli, and also not for growth on a B. subtilis mutant that is unable to produce the antibiotic bacillaene (Müller et al, 2014(Müller et al, , 2016. It therefore does not appear to be a general killing factor, but might rather be required to specifically counteract antibiotics that are produced by prey in response to M. xanthus (Müller et al, 2016).…”

Section: How Are Prey Cells Lysed and Consumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Predation Strategy of Myxococcus xanthus

2020

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Myxobacteria are ubiquitous in soil environments. They display a complex life cycle: vegetatively growing cells coordinate their motility to form multicellular swarms, which upon starvation aggregate into large fruiting bodies where cells differentiate into spores. In addition to growing as saprophytes, Myxobacteria are predators that actively kill bacteria of other species to consume their biomass. In this review, we summarize research on the predation behavior of the model myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus, which can access nutrients from a broad spectrum of microorganisms. M. xanthus displays an epibiotic predation strategy, i.e., it induces prey lysis from the outside and feeds on the released biomass. This predatory behavior encompasses various processes: Gliding motility and induced cell reversals allow M. xanthus to encounter prey and to remain within the area to sweep up its biomass, which causes the characteristic "rippling" of preying populations. Antibiotics and secreted bacteriolytic enzymes appear to be important predation factors, which are possibly targeted to prey cells with the aid of outer membrane vesicles. However, certain bacteria protect themselves from M. xanthus predation by forming mechanical barriers, such as biofilms and mucoid colonies, or by secreting antibiotics. Further understanding the molecular mechanisms that mediate myxobacterial predation will offer fascinating insight into the reciprocal relationships of bacteria in complex communities, and might spur application-oriented research on the development of novel antibacterial strategies.

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Section: How Are Prey Cells Lysed and Consumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Are Prey Cells Lysed and Consumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Predation Strategy of Myxococcus xanthus

2020

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“…These compounds, primarily produced by Enterobacteria, are short peptidic toxins, which inhibit susceptible strains with single‐hit kinetics, are extremely narrow‐spectrum, and similarly to larger protein bacteriocins or phages, require specific receptors (Cascales et al, ). Evidence also points to antagonistic roles of antibiotics in predation by Myxobacteria, which were shown to weaponize specialized metabolites to prey on susceptible strains of bacteria (Muller et al, ; Xiao, Wei, Ebright, & Wall, ).…”

Section: Antibiotics Being Antibioticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence also points to antagonistic roles of antibiotics in predation by Myxobacteria, which were shown to weaponize specialized metabolites to prey on susceptible strains of bacteria (Muller et al, 2016;Xiao, Wei, Ebright, & Wall, 2011).…”

Section: Duced?mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the possible ecological roles of antimicrobials

Pishchany

Kolter

2020

Molecular Microbiology

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The Introduction of antibiotics into the clinical use in the middle of the 20th century had a profound impact on modern medicine and human wellbeing. The contribution of these wonder molecules to public health and science is hard to overestimate. Much research has informed our understanding of antibiotic mechanisms of action and resistance at inhibitory concentrations in the lab and in the clinic. Antibiotics, however, are not a human invention as most of them are either natural products produced by soil microorganisms or semisynthetic derivatives of natural products. Because we use antibiotics to inhibit the bacterial growth, it is generally assumed that growth inhibition is also their primary ecological function in the environment. Nevertheless, multiple studies point to diverse nonlethal effects that are exhibited at lower levels of antibiotics. Here we review accumulating evidence of antibiosis and of alternative functions of antibiotics exhibited at subinhibitory concentrations. We also speculate on how these effects might alter phenotypes, fitness, and community composition of microbes in the context of the environment and suggest directions for future research.

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“…TA targets bacterial type II signal peptidase to inhibit pro-lipoprotein processing, resembling the mode of action of globomycin, and has been considered to be one of the most powerful weapons used by M. xanthus to prey upon both gram-positive and gramnegative cells (Dev et al, 1985;Xiao et al, 2011Xiao et al, , 2012. In addition, some other factors required for M. xanthus to engage Bacillus subtilis in a predator-prey relationship have also been proposed, including an ATP-binding cassette transporter permease and a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat locus encoding bacterial immunity, suggesting that M. xanthus predation appears to be a multifactorial process (Müller et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacillus licheniformis escapes from Myxococcus xanthus predation by deactivating myxovirescin A through enzymatic glucosylation

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2019

Environmental Microbiology

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Summary Myxococcus xanthus kills susceptible bacteria using myxovirescin A (TA) during predation. However, whether prey cells in nature can escape M. xanthus by developing resistance to TA is unknown. We observed that many field‐isolated Bacillus licheniformis strains could survive encounters with M. xanthus, which was correlated to their TA resistance. A TA glycoside was identified in the broth of predation‐resistant B. licheniformis J32 co‐cultured with M. xanthus, and a glycosyltransferase gene (yjiC) was up‐regulated in J32 after the addition of TA. Hetero‐expressed YjiC‐modified TA to a TA glucoside (TA‐Gluc) by conjugating a glucose moiety to the C‐21 hydroxyl group, and the resulting compound was identical to the TA glycoside present in the co‐culture broth. TA‐Gluc exhibited diminished bactericidal activity due to its weaker binding with LspA, as suggested by in silico docking data. Heterologous expression of the yjiC gene conferred both TA and M. xanthus‐predation resistance to the host Escherichia coli cells. Furthermore, under predatory pressure, B. licheniformis Y071 rapidly developed predation resistance by acquiring TA resistance through the overexpression of yjiC and lspA genes. These results suggest that M. xanthus predation resistance in B. licheniformis is due to the TA deactivation by glucosylation, which is induced in a predator‐mediated manner.

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Identification of Functions Affecting Predator-Prey Interactions between Myxococcus xanthus and Bacillus subtilis

Cited by 34 publications

References 61 publications

The Predation Strategy of Myxococcus xanthus

The Predation Strategy of Myxococcus xanthus

On the possible ecological roles of antimicrobials

Bacillus licheniformis escapes from Myxococcus xanthus predation by deactivating myxovirescin A through enzymatic glucosylation

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