Providing new insights on the biphasic lifestyle of the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus through genome-scale metabolic modeling

Abstract

In this study we analyze the growth-phase dependent metabolic states of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus by constructing a fully compartmented, mass and charge-balanced genomescale metabolic model of this predatory bacterium (iCH457). Considering the differences between life cycle phases driving the growth of this predator, growth-phase condition-specific models have been generated allowing the systematic study of its metabolic capabilities. Using these computational tools, we have been able to analyze, from a system level, the dynamic metabolism of the predatory bacteria as the life cycle progresses. We provide computational evidences supporting potential axenic growth of B. bacteriovorus's in a rich medium based on its encoded metabolic capabilities. Our systems-level analysis confirms the presence of "energy-saving" mechanisms in this predator as well as an abrupt metabolic shift between the attack and intraperiplasmic growth phases. Our results strongly suggest that predatory bacteria's metabolic networks have low robustness, likely hampering their ability to tackle drastic environmental fluctuations, thus being confined to stable and predictable habitats. Overall, we present here a valuable computational testbed based on predatory bacteria activity for rational design of novel and controlled biocatalysts in biotechnological/clinical applications.

Interactions between Bdellovibrio and like organisms and bacteria in biofilms: beyond predator–prey dynamics

“…Worth mentioning, yet beyond the scope of this review on biofilms is the use of BALOs for extracting bioplastics from producing cells (Martínez et al, 2013;Prieto et al, 2016) or exploiting their enzymatic potential to modify antibodies (Bratanis et al, 2017;Bratanis and Lood, 2019). The interested reader is referred to Herencias et al (2020a), Herencias et al (2020b) and Bratanis et al (2020). Finally, the potential of H-I strains for biotechnological developments is worth mentioning.…”

Chromosome choreography during the non-binary cell cycle of a predatory bacterium

“… 30 , 31 Precise remodeling of the prey cell wall leads to rounding of the bdelloplast (i.e., the Bdellovibrio- infected prey bacterium) without altering its osmotic integrity 30 , 31 . Within the bdelloplast, B. bacteriovorus digests the prey content 32 and grows as a filament before producing a variable, even or odd number of daughter cells, by multiple synchronous division events. 33 Flagellated monoploid cells then exit the prey ghost 34 and resume the cycle.…”

Underexplored bacteria as reservoirs of novel antimicrobial lipopeptides

“…Predatory bacteria have also been recognised as natural factories of bioactive compounds, as their lifestyle depends on the production of various enzymes and secondary metabolites to naturally invade and consume specific prey microorganisms as a nutrient source ( Rosenberg and Varon, 1984 ; Herencias et al, 2020 ; Sester et al, 2020 ; Atterbury and Tyson, 2021 ). Certain predatory bacterial genera, such as such as Myxococcus , Cystobacter, and Lysobacter , have then been identified to produce lipopeptides during secondary metabolism ( Herrmann et al, 2017 ; Yan et al, 2018 ; Yue et al, 2022 ).…”