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Cell death in pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development

Cell death in pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development
Cell death in pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development
Bacteria growing in biofilms often develop multicellular, three-dimensional structures known as microcolonies. Complex differentiation within biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa occurs, leading to the creation of voids inside microcolonies and to the dispersal of cells from within these voids. However, key developmental processes regulating these events are poorly understood. A normal component of multicellular development is cell death. Here we report that a repeatable pattern of cell death and lysis occurs in biofilms of P. aeruginosa during the normal course of development. Cell death occurred with temporal and spatial organization within biofilms, inside microcolonies, when the biofilms were allowed to develop in continuous-culture flow cells. A subpopulation of viable cells was always observed in these regions. During the onset of biofilm killing and during biofilm development thereafter, a bacteriophage capable of superinfecting and lysing the P. aeruginosa parent strain was detected in the fluid effluent from the biofilm. The bacteriophage implicated in biofilm killing was closely related to the filamentous phage Pf1 and existed as a prophage within the genome of P. aeruginosa. We propose that prophage-mediated cell death is an important mechanism of differentiation inside microcolonies that facilitates dispersal of a subpopulation of surviving cells.
0021-9193
4585-4592
Webb, Jeremy S.
ec0a5c4e-86cc-4ae9-b390-7298f5d65f8d
Thompson, Lyndal S.
513cef3d-3f01-467f-9f93-0564fdae008e
James, Sally
56bebdac-9ab9-4113-a55d-8916da07df58
Charlton, Tim
d7c2ce73-8afc-4fa7-811f-e0c1ca1848bd
Tolker-Nielsen, Tim
4fcb7265-8c43-4118-aef1-c35dbe172740
Koch, Birgit
6462697f-31fc-4642-8cef-8c86a9d1cf91
Givskov, Michael
44e11bca-55f6-4351-ba38-03e8233bc386
Kjelleberg, Staffan
043b66b5-130c-42f2-99b3-ec3eecf3248e
Webb, Jeremy S.
ec0a5c4e-86cc-4ae9-b390-7298f5d65f8d
Thompson, Lyndal S.
513cef3d-3f01-467f-9f93-0564fdae008e
James, Sally
56bebdac-9ab9-4113-a55d-8916da07df58
Charlton, Tim
d7c2ce73-8afc-4fa7-811f-e0c1ca1848bd
Tolker-Nielsen, Tim
4fcb7265-8c43-4118-aef1-c35dbe172740
Koch, Birgit
6462697f-31fc-4642-8cef-8c86a9d1cf91
Givskov, Michael
44e11bca-55f6-4351-ba38-03e8233bc386
Kjelleberg, Staffan
043b66b5-130c-42f2-99b3-ec3eecf3248e

Webb, Jeremy S., Thompson, Lyndal S., James, Sally, Charlton, Tim, Tolker-Nielsen, Tim, Koch, Birgit, Givskov, Michael and Kjelleberg, Staffan (2003) Cell death in pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development. Journal of Bacteriology, 185 (15), 4585-4592. (doi:10.1128/JB.185.15.4585-4592.2003).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Bacteria growing in biofilms often develop multicellular, three-dimensional structures known as microcolonies. Complex differentiation within biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa occurs, leading to the creation of voids inside microcolonies and to the dispersal of cells from within these voids. However, key developmental processes regulating these events are poorly understood. A normal component of multicellular development is cell death. Here we report that a repeatable pattern of cell death and lysis occurs in biofilms of P. aeruginosa during the normal course of development. Cell death occurred with temporal and spatial organization within biofilms, inside microcolonies, when the biofilms were allowed to develop in continuous-culture flow cells. A subpopulation of viable cells was always observed in these regions. During the onset of biofilm killing and during biofilm development thereafter, a bacteriophage capable of superinfecting and lysing the P. aeruginosa parent strain was detected in the fluid effluent from the biofilm. The bacteriophage implicated in biofilm killing was closely related to the filamentous phage Pf1 and existed as a prophage within the genome of P. aeruginosa. We propose that prophage-mediated cell death is an important mechanism of differentiation inside microcolonies that facilitates dispersal of a subpopulation of surviving cells.

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Published date: August 2003

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 37679
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/37679
ISSN: 0021-9193
PURE UUID: 77ae55fb-4c06-462c-9f54-b22aad3cdb5a
ORCID for Jeremy S. Webb: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2068-8589

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Date deposited: 25 May 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:52

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Contributors

Author: Jeremy S. Webb ORCID iD
Author: Lyndal S. Thompson
Author: Sally James
Author: Tim Charlton
Author: Tim Tolker-Nielsen
Author: Birgit Koch
Author: Michael Givskov
Author: Staffan Kjelleberg

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