Microfluidic techniques for the analysis of bacterial chemotaxis

Chemotaxis and Motility of Spongospora subterranea Zoospores in Response to Potato Root Exudate Constituents and pH

Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea is an important pathogen of potato responsible for major losses in most potato growing regions of the world. Infection is initiated by biflagellated motile zoospores released from long-lived resting spores. Zoospore chemotaxis to the host plant root is widely believed to be stimulated by host root exudate compounds, although direct evidence is lacking. This study refined the traditional chemotaxis capillary assay, with which we provided the first empirical evidence of S. subterranea zoospore chemotaxis. Individual potato root exudate metabolites were either taxis neutral, inhibitory, or attractant to the zoospores. L-Glutamine was the strongest chemoattractant, while spermine was the most inhibitory. Zoospore motility and chemotaxis were constrained by strongly acidic or alkaline solutions of pH < 5.3 and >8.5, respectively. Beyond pH, ionic constituents of the test solution affected zoospore motility as Sorensen's phosphate buffer stalled zoospore motility, but HEPES buffer at the same concentration and pH had little or no negative motility effect. Zoospore motility, as characterized by several parameters, influenced chemotaxis. Among the parameters measured, total distance traveled was the best predictor of zoospore chemotaxis. The characterization of environmental and ecological effects on zoospore motility and chemotaxis highlights useful targets for S. subterranea disease control through manipulation of zoospore taxis or selection of host resistance traits.

Root exudates and chemotactic strains mediate bacterial community assembly in the rhizosphere soil of Casuarina equisetifolia L

Rhizosphere bacterial diversity and community structure are important factors involving in plant growth. However, the exact process of how plant rhizosphere bacterial community structures is assembled remains unclear. To investigate the role of bacterial chemotaxis to rhizosphere secretions in the establishment of rhizosphere microbial community in Casuarina equisetifolia, we screened bacteria strains derived from the rhizosphere of Casuarina equisetifolia L. using top three chemicals of the plant root exudates (2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, methyl stearate, and arginine) as chemoattractant. Among 72 bacterial strains, five showed strong chemotaxis to 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, six to methyl stearate, and eleven to arginine, with the highest bacterial chemotaxis occurring at a concentration of 60 μM. This indicates that arginine is a more important chemoattractant than 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, methyl stearate in the establishment of rhizosphere microbial community in Casuarina equisetifolia. Bacterial community assembly analysis using different chemoattractants and chemoattractants-plus-bacteria combinations were then performed by burying laboratory prepared bags of sterlized soil into C. equisetifolia forest. Bacteria diversity and enrichment analyses using 16S rDNA sequencing at 7 and 14 days after burying showed that arginine-plus-Ochrobactrum sp. and Pantoea sp. treatment exhibited the greatest similarity to the natural forest bacterial community. Our date provides new insights into how chemoattractants and chemotactic bacteria strains shape the rhizosphere microbial community of C. equisetifolia, which constitutes foundational information for future management of these communities.

Elucidation of antibacterial effect of calcium chloride against Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum race 4 biovar 3 infecting ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)

Bacterial wilt incited by Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum (Rps) race 4 biovar 3 is a serious threat to ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) cultivation throughout the ginger growing tracts and warrants effective remedial measures since most of the strategies failed at field level implementation. After a series of experiments, calcium chloride was found to be effective against Rps both in vitro and in planta and its prophylactic effect has been successfully demonstrated under field conditions. CaCl2 at a concentration of > 2% significantly inhibited Rps under in vitro conditions. Calcium is an important nutritional element imparts a major role in plant disease resistance, and numerous studies have demonstrated the mitigating effect of calcium for disease management. CaCl2 being inhibitory to Rps, the mechanism of inhibition by CaCl2 against Rps was elucidated by a series of in vitro assays including swarming motility and biofilm formation. Direct inhibition was also studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The minimum bactericidal concentration and minimum inhibitory concentration were found to be around 3% while the EC 90 value was found to be 2.25%. The SEM analysis revealed the destruction of cell structure by making perforations on the cell surface. CaCl2 at the targeted concentrations inhibited biofilm formation as well as swarming motility of Rps. These findings suggest that CaCl2 exhibits strong antibacterial activity against Rps and has the potential to be used as an effective bactericide for Rps in managing bacterial wilt in ginger.

Quorum Sensing Communication: Molecularly Connecting Cells, Their Neighbors, and Even Devices

Quorum sensing (QS) is a molecular signaling modality that mediates molecular-based cell–cell communication. Prevalent in nature, QS networks provide bacteria with a method to gather information from the environment and make decisions based on the intel. With its ability to autonomously facilitate both inter- and intraspecies gene regulation, this process can be rewired to enable autonomously actuated, but molecularly programmed, genetic control. On the one hand, novel QS-based genetic circuits endow cells with smart functions that can be used in many fields of engineering, and on the other, repurposed QS circuitry promotes communication and aids in the development of synthetic microbial consortia. Furthermore, engineered QS systems can probe and intervene in interkingdom signaling between bacteria and their hosts. Lastly, QS is demonstrated to establish conversation with abiotic materials, especially by taking advantage of biological and even electronically induced assembly processes; such QS-incorporated biohybrid devices offer innovative ways to program cell behavior and biological function.

Root exudates-driven rhizosphere recruitment of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Bacillus flexus KLBMP 4941 and its growth-promoting effect on the coastal halophyte Limonium sinense under salt stress

Halophytes play an important role in the bioremediation of saline soils. Increased evidence has revealed that plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have colonized the halophytic rhizosphere, and they have evolved the capacity to reduce salt stress damage to the host. However, the mechanism by which halophytes attract and recruit beneficial PGPR has rarely been reported. This study reports the interaction between the halophyte Limonium sinense and its rhizosphere PGPR strain Bacillus flexus KLBMP 4941, as well as the mechanism by which KLBMP 4941 promotes host plant growth under salt stress. After salt stress treatment, we collected the root exudates (REs) of L. sinense and found that the REs could promote the growth and chemotaxis of the bacterium KLBMP 4941. In addition, the components of the REs under salt stress were analyzed, and some organic acids (2-methylbutyric acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, and oleic acid) were detected as the major components. Further assessment showed that each of these components had positive effects on the growth, motility, chemotaxis, and root colonization of strain KLBMP 4941. Further pot experiments revealed the potential PGP mechanisms induced by strain KLBMP 4941 on the host plant under salt stress. Inoculation with KLBMP 4941 promoted the accumulation of chlorophyll to enhance photosynthesis, increased osmotic regulator contents, enhanced flavonoid and antioxidant enzymes, and regulated Na⁺/K⁺ homeostasis to help the host ameliorate salinity stress damage. Our findings indicate that the halophyte L. sinense can attract and recruit beneficial rhizosphere bacteria by REs under salt stress, and the recruited B. flexus KLBMP 4941 elicited PGP effects under salinity stress through complex plant physiological regulatory mechanisms. This study provides a foundation for the enhancement of the rhizosphere colonization ability of the PGP strain KLBMP 4941, which shows potential applications in phytoremediation of saline soils.

A Static Microfluidic Device for Investigating the Chemotaxis Response to Stable, Non-linear Gradients

Microfluidic technology allows fast and precise measurement of chemotaxis responses to both attractant and repellent signals. One of the major drawbacks of current microfluidic chemotaxis assays is the presence of bacterial cells within the concentration gradient flow field, which has the potential for flow effects masking the chemotaxis response. This chapter describes a new microfluidic device for producing stable concentration gradients and measuring the response of cells to the gradient without exposing them to any flow. Unlike other methods described in the literature, this method is capable of producing gradients of any shape, almost instantaneously, allowing the measurement of time-dependent response of cells to a variety of signals.

Controlling localization of Escherichia coli populations using a two-part synthetic motility circuit: An accelerator and brake

Probiotics, whether taken as capsules or consumed in foods, have been regarded as safe for human use by regulatory agencies. Being living cells, they serve as "tunable" factories for the synthesis of a vast array of beneficial molecules. The idea of reprogramming probiotics to act as controllable factories, producing potential therapeutic molecules under user-specified conditions, represents a new and powerful concept in drug synthesis and delivery. Probiotics that serve as drug delivery vehicles pose several challenges, one being targeting (as seen with nanoparticle approaches). Here, we employ synthetic biology to control swimming directionality in a process referred to as "pseudotaxis." Escherichia coli, absent the motility regulator cheZ, swim sporadically, missing the traditional "run" in the run:tumble swimming paradigm. Upon introduction of cheZ in trans and its signal-generated upregulation, engineered bacteria can be "programmed" to swim toward the source of the chemical cue. Here, engineered cells that encounter sufficient levels of the small signal molecule pyocyanin, produce an engineered CheZ and swim with programmed directionality. By incorporating a degradation tag at the C-terminus of CheZ, the cells stop running when they exit spaces containing pyocyanin. That is, the engineered CheZ modified with a C-terminal extension derived from the putative DNA-binding transcriptional regulator YbaQ (RREERAAKKVA) is consumed by the ClpXP protease machine at a rate sufficient to "brake" the cells when pyocyanin levels are too low. Through this process, we demonstrate that over time, these engineered E. coli accumulate in pyocyanin-rich locales. We suggest that such approaches may find utility in engineering probiotics so that their beneficial functions can be focused in areas of principal benefit.

Micro-motors: A motile bacteria based system for liposome cargo transport

Biological micro-motors (microorganisms) have potential applications in energy utilization and nanotechnology. However, harnessing the power generated by such motors to execute desired work is extremely difficult. Here, we employ the power of motile bacteria to transport small, large, and giant unilamellar vesicles (SUVs, LUVs, and GUVs). Furthermore, we demonstrate bacteria–bilayer interactions by probing glycolipids inside the model membrane scaffold. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) spectroscopic and microscopic methods were utilized for understanding these interactions. We found that motile bacteria could successfully propel SUVs and LUVs with a velocity of 28 μm s⁻¹ and 13 μm s⁻¹, respectively. GUVs, however, displayed Brownian motion and could not be propelled by attached bacteria. Bacterial velocity decreased with the larger loaded cargo, which agrees with our calculations of loaded bacteria swimming at low Reynolds number.

Evaluation of the Antibacterial Effects and Mechanism of Action of Protocatechualdehyde against Ralstonia solanacearum

Protocatechualdehyde (PCA) is an important plant-derived natural product that has been associated with a wide variety of biological activities and has been widely used in medicine as an antioxidant, anti-aging and an anti-inflammatory agent. However, fewer reports concerning its antibacterial effects on plant-pathogenic bacteria exist. Therefore, in this study, protocatechualdehyde was evaluated for its antibacterial activity against plant pathogens along with the mechanism of its antibacterial action. PCA at 40 μg/mL was highly active against R. solanacearum and significantly inhibited its growth. The minimum bactericidal concentration and minimum inhibitory concentration values for PCA were 40 μg/mL and 20 μg/mL, respectively. Further investigation of the mechanism of action of PCA via transmission electron microscopy and biological assays indicated that the destruction of the cell structure, the shapes and the inhibition of biofilm formation were important. In addition, the application of PCA effectively reduced the incidence of bacterial wilt on tobacco under greenhouse conditions, and the control efficiency was as high as 92.01% at nine days after inoculation. Taken together, these findings suggest that PCA exhibits strong antibacterial activity against R. solanacearum and has the potential to be applied as an effective antibacterial agent for controlling bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum.

Chemotaxis of Escherichia coli to norepinephrine (NE) requires conversion of NE to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid

Norepinephrine (NE), the primary neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system, has been reported to be a chemoattractant for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). Here we show that nonpathogenic E. coli K-12 grown in the presence of 2 μM NE is also attracted to NE. Growth with NE induces transcription of genes encoding the tyramine oxidase, TynA, and the aromatic aldehyde dehydrogenase, FeaB, whose respective activities can, in principle, convert NE to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DHMA). Our results indicate that the apparent attractant response to NE is in fact chemotaxis to DHMA, which was found to be a strong attractant for E. coli. Only strains of E. coli K-12 that produce TynA and FeaB exhibited an attractant response to NE. We demonstrate that DHMA is sensed by the serine chemoreceptor Tsr and that the chemotaxis response requires an intact serine-binding site. The threshold concentration for detection is ≤5 nM DHMA, and the response is inhibited at DHMA concentrations above 50 μM. Cells producing a heterodimeric Tsr receptor containing only one functional serine-binding site still respond like the wild type to low concentrations of DHMA, but their response persists at higher concentrations. We propose that chemotaxis to DHMA generated from NE by bacteria that have already colonized the intestinal epithelium may recruit E. coli and other enteric bacteria that possess a Tsr-like receptor to preferred sites of infection.

Polar localization of Escherichia coli chemoreceptors requires an intact Tol-Pal complex

Subcellular biomolecular localization is critical for the metabolic and structural properties of the cell. The functional implications of the spatiotemporal distribution of protein complexes during the bacterial cell cycle have long been acknowledged; however, the molecular mechanisms for generating and maintaining their dynamic localization in bacteria are not completely understood. Here we demonstrate that the trans-envelope Tol-Pal complex, a widely conserved component of the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria, is required to maintain the polar positioning of chemoreceptor clusters in Escherichia coli. Localization of the chemoreceptors was independent of phospholipid composition of the membrane and the curvature of the cell wall. Instead, our data indicate that chemoreceptors interact with components of the Tol-Pal complex and that this interaction is required to polarly localize chemoreceptor clusters. We found that disruption of the Tol-Pal complex perturbs the polar localization of chemoreceptors, alters cell motility, and affects chemotaxis. We propose that the E. coli Tol-Pal complex restricts mobility of the chemoreceptor clusters at the cell poles and may be involved in regulatory mechanisms that co-ordinate cell division and segregation of the chemosensory machinery.

Generation of recombinant Orf virus using an enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene as a selectable marker

BACKGROUND

Reporter genes are often used as a selectable marker for generation of recombinant viruses in order to investigate the mechanism of pathogenesis and to obtain candidate vaccine viruses. Routine selection of the recombinant parapoxvirus is time-consuming and labor intensive. Therefore, developing a novel method for selection is critical.

RESULTS

In this study, we developed a rapid method to generate recombinant Orf viruses (ORFV) based on the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene as a selectable marker. The coding sequence of EGFP gene was amplified from pEGFP-N1 vector and subcloned into the pZIPPY-neo/gus plasmid under the control of the early-late vaccinia virus (VACV) VV7.5 promoter and flanked by two multiple cloning sites (MCS) to generate a novel transfer vector pSPV-EGFP. Using the pSPV-EGFP, two recombination cassettes pSPV-113LF-EGFP-113RF and pSPV-116LF-EGFP-116RF were constructed by cloning the flanking regions of the ORFV113 and ORFV116 and inserted into two MCS flanking the EGFP gene. Using this novel system, two single gene deletion mutants OV-IA82Δ113 and OV-IA82Δ116 were successfully generated.

CONCLUSIONS

This approach shortens the time needed to generate recombinant ORFVs (rORFVs). Thus, the pSPV-EGFP vector provides a direct, fast, and convenient way to manipulate the recombinant viruses, indicating that it is highly suited for its designed purpose.

Motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in saturated granular media as affected by chemoattractant

To examine and quantify the effects of glass beads and chemoattractant on bacterial motility in granular media, we examined the motile behavior of P. aeruginosa in a saturated granular medium and quantified the effects of glass beads and the presence of a chemoattractant. By recording individual cell trajectories in microfluidic channels under a high-speed confocal microscope, we directly measured the cell's run direction and corresponding run-length, speed and turn angle. Bacterial run speed increased in the presence of chemoattractant in both aqueous and granular media. But it decreased in glass-beads compared to in aqueous media due to the restricted pore geometry and interactions between bacteria and grain surfaces. Notably, the relatively higher frequency distribution at turn angles of 170° decreased dramatically, while the smaller peak at 70° increased and became dominant on a bimodal distribution, showing more bacteria changed directions at smaller turn angles rather than reverse their swimming directions. Additionally, the presence of glass beads also decreased the chemotactic velocity and random motility by similar proportions due to the restrictive geometry and the interactions between bacteria and glass beads surface. Our study indicates that the swimming parameters measured from aqueous media cannot be directly adopted in models for predicting bacteria travel in granular media.

Chemotaxis to the quorum-sensing signal AI-2 requires the Tsr chemoreceptor and the periplasmic LsrB AI-2-binding protein

AI-2 is an autoinducer made by many bacteria. LsrB binds AI-2 in the periplasm, and Tsr is the l-serine chemoreceptor. We show that AI-2 strongly attracts Escherichia coli. Both LsrB and Tsr are necessary for sensing AI-2, but AI-2 uptake is not, suggesting that LsrB and Tsr interact directly in the periplasm.

A microfluidic device for quantifying bacterial chemotaxis in stable concentration gradients

Chemotaxis allows bacteria to approach sources of attractant chemicals or to avoid sources of repellent chemicals. Bacteria constantly monitor the concentration of specific chemoeffectors by comparing the current concentration to the concentration detected a few seconds earlier. This comparison determines the net direction of movement. Although multiple, competing gradients often coexist in nature, conventional approaches for investigating bacterial chemotaxis are suboptimal for quantifying migration in response to concentration gradients of attractants and repellents. Here, we describe the development of a microfluidic chemotaxis model for presenting precise and stable concentration gradients of chemoeffectors to bacteria and quantitatively investigating their response to the applied gradient. The device is versatile in that concentration gradients of any desired absolute concentration and gradient strength can be easily generated by diffusive mixing. The device is demonstrated using the response of Escherichia coli RP437 to gradients of amino acids and nickel ions.

Investigation of bacterial chemotaxis in flow-based microfluidic devices

The plug-in-pond and capillary assays are convenient methods for measuring attractant and repellent bacterial chemotaxis. However, these assays do not provide quantitative information on the extent of migration and are not well-suited for investigating repellent taxis. Here, we describe a protocol for a flow-based microfluidic system (microFlow) to quantitatively investigate chemotaxis in response to concentration gradients of attractants and repellents. The microFlow device uses diffusive mixing to generate concentration gradients that are stable throughout the chemotaxis chamber and for the duration of the experiment. The gradients may be of any desired absolute concentration and gradient strength. GFP-expressing bacteria immediately encounter a stable concentration gradient when they enter the chemotaxis chamber, and the migration in response to the gradient is monitored by microscopy. The effects of different parameters that influence the extent of migration in the microFlow device-preparation of the motile bacterial population preparation, strength of the concentration gradient and duration of exposure to the gradient-are discussed in the context of repellent taxis of chemotactically wild-type Escherichia coli cells in a gradient of NiSO(4). Fabrication of the microfluidic device takes 1 d while preparing motile cells and carrying out the chemotaxis experiment takes 4-6 h to complete.