Chemical defense in marine biofilm bacteria

Matz, C., Webb, Jeremy, Schupp, Peter J., Phang, Shui Yen, Penesyan, Anahit, Egan, Suhelen, Steinberg, Peter and Kjelleberg, Staffan (2011) Chemical defense in marine biofilm bacteria. In, Trimm, Harold and Hunter III, William (eds.) Environmental Chemistry: New Techniques and Data. Toronto; New York. Apple Academic Press, pp. 120-131.

Abstract

Many plants and animals are defended from predation or herbivory by inhibitory secondary metabolites, which in the marine environment are very common among sessile organisms. Among bacteria, where there is the greatest metabolic potential, little is known about chemical defenses against bacterivorous consumers. An emerging hypothesis is that sessile bacterial communities organized as biofilms serve as bacterial refuge from predation. By testing growth and survival of two common bacterivorous nanoflagellates, we find evidence that chemically-mediated resistance against protozoan predators is common among biofilm populations in a diverse set of marine bacteria. Using bioassay-guided chemical and genetic analysis, we identified one of the most effective antiprotozoal compounds as violacein, an alkaloid that we demonstrate is produced predominately within biofilm cells. Nanomolar concentrations of violacein inhibit protozoan feeding by inducing a conserved eukaryotic cell death program. Such biofilm-specific chemical defenses could contribute to the successful persistence of biofilm bacteria in various environments and provide the ecological and evolutionary context for a number of eukaryote-targeting bacterial metabolites. Predators are potent agents of mortality and natural selection in biological communities. Plants and animals synthesize a broad range of secondary metabolites that are deterrent or toxic to their consumers, thus functioning as defense compounds. Such chemicals are often common in sessile eukaryotic organisms such as marine sponges and corals, seaweeds and terrestrial plants [1-4], which lack escape or avoidance mechanisms. However, chemically-mediated antipredator defenses of bacteria and their ecological and evolution ary consequences remain a greatly understudied field. Particularly, the increasing number of biologically active compounds isolated from marine bacteria raises the question of their ecological functions [5].

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Contributors

Author: Jeremy Webb

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