More than motility: Salmonella flagella contribute to overriding friction and facilitating colony hydration during swarming

Flagellar Motility is Mutagenic

Flagella are highly complex rotary molecular machines that enable bacteria to not only migrate to optimal environments but to also promote range expansion, competitiveness, virulence, and antibiotic survival. Flagellar motility is an energy-demanding process, where the sum of its production (biosynthesis) and operation (rotation) costs has been estimated to total ~10% of the entire energy budget of an E. coli cell. The acquisition of such a costly adaptation process is expected to secure short-term benefits by increasing competitiveness and survival, as well as long-term evolutionary fitness gains. While the role of flagellar motility in bacterial survival has been widely reported, its direct influence on the rate of evolution remains unclear. We show here that both production and operation costs contribute to elevated mutation frequencies. Our findings suggest that flagellar movement may be an important player in tuning the rate of bacterial evolution.

Capillary interactions drive the self-organization of bacterial colonies

Many bacteria inhabit thin layers of water on solid surfaces both naturally in soils or on hosts or textiles and in the lab on agar hydrogels. In these environments, cells experience capillary forces, yet an understanding of how these forces shape bacterial collective behaviors remains elusive. Here, we show that the water menisci formed around bacteria lead to capillary attraction between cells while still allowing them to slide past one another. We develop an experimental apparatus that allows us to control bacterial collective behaviors by varying the strength and range of capillary forces. Combining 3D imaging and cell tracking with agent-based modeling, we demonstrate that capillary attraction organizes rod-shaped bacteria into densely packed, nematic groups, and profoundly influences their collective dynamics and morphologies. Our results suggest that capillary forces may be a ubiquitous physical ingredient in shaping microbial communities in partially hydrated environments.

The bacterial division protein MinDE has an independent function in flagellation

Before preparing for division, bacteria stop their motility. During the exponential growth phase in Escherichia coli, when the rate of bacterial division is highest, the expression of flagellar genes is repressed and bacterial adhesion is enhanced. Hence, it is evident that cell division and motility in bacteria are linked; however, the specific molecular mechanism by which these two processes are linked is not known. While observing E. coli, we found that compared to the WT, the E. coli (Δmin) cells show higher motility and flagellation. We demonstrated that the higher motility was due to the absence of the Min system and can be restored to normal in the presence of Min proteins, where Min system negatively regulates flagella formation. The Min system in E. coli is widely studied for its role in the inhibition of polar Z-ring formation through its pole-to-pole oscillation. However, its role in bacterial motility is not explored. MinD homologs, FlhG and FleN, are known to control flagellar expression through their interaction with FlrA and FleQ, respectively. AtoC, a part of the two-component system AtoSC complex, is homologous to FlrA/FleQ, and the complex is involved in E. coli flagellation via its interaction with the fliA promoter. We have shown that MinD interacts directly with the AtoS of AtoSC complex and controls the fliA expression. Our findings suggest that the Min system acts as a link between cell division and motility in E. coli.

Flagellar motor remodeling during swarming requires FliL

FliL is an essential component of the flagellar machinery in some bacteria, but a conditional one in others. The conditional role is for optimal swarming in some bacteria. During swarming, physical forces associated with movement on a surface are expected to exert a higher load on the flagellum, requiring more motor torque to move. FliL was reported to enhance motor output in several bacteria and observed to assemble as a ring around ion-conducting stators that power the motor. In this study we identify a common new function for FliL in diverse bacteria-Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Proteus mirabilis. During swarming, all these bacteria show increased cell speed and a skewed motor bias that suppresses cell tumbling. We demonstrate that these altered motor parameters, or "motor remodeling," require FliL. Both swarming and motor remodeling can be restored in an E. coli fliL mutant by complementation with fliL genes from P. mirabilis and B. subtilis, showing conservation of a swarming-associated FliL function across phyla. In addition, we demonstrate that the strong interaction we reported earlier between FliL and the flagellar MS-ring protein FliF is confined to the RBM-3 domain of FliF that links the periplasmic rod to the cytoplasmic C-ring. This interaction may explain several phenotypes associated with the absence of FliL.

Flagellar motor remodeling during swarming requires FliL

FliL is an essential component of the flagellar machinery in some bacteria, but a conditional one in others. The conditional role is for optimal swarming in some bacteria. During swarming, physical forces associated with movement on a surface are expected to exert a higher load on the flagellum, requiring more motor torque to move. Bacterial physiology and morphology are also altered during swarming to cope with the challenges of surface navigation. FliL was reported to enhance motor output in several bacteria and observed to assemble as a ring around ion-conducting stators that power the motor. In this study we identify a common new function for FliL in diverse bacteria - Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Proteus mirabilis . During swarming, all these bacteria show increased cell speed and a skewed motor bias that suppresses cell tumbling. We demonstrate that these altered motor parameters, or 'motor remodeling', require FliL. Both swarming and motor remodeling can be restored in an E. coli fliL mutant by complementation with fliL genes from P. mirabilis and B. subtilis , showing conservation of swarming-associated FliL function across phyla. In addition, we demonstrate that the strong interaction we reported earlier between FliL and the flagellar MS-ring protein FliF is confined to the RBM-3 domain of FliF that links the periplasmic rod to the cytoplasmic C-ring. This interaction may explain several phenotypes associated with the absence of FliL.

Cell Sorting-Directed Selection of Bacterial Cells in Bigger Sizes Analyzed by Imaging Flow Cytometry during Experimental Evolution

Cell morphology is an essential and phenotypic trait that can be easily tracked during adaptation and evolution to environmental changes. Thanks to the rapid development of quantitative analytical techniques for large populations of cells based on their optical properties, morphology can be easily determined and tracked during experimental evolution. Furthermore, the directed evolution of new culturable morphological phenotypes can find use in synthetic biology to refine fermentation processes. It remains unknown whether and how fast we can obtain a stable mutant with distinct morphologies using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)-directed experimental evolution. Taking advantage of FACS and imaging flow cytometry (IFC), we direct the experimental evolution of the E. coli population undergoing continuous passage of sorted cells with specific optical properties. After ten rounds of sorting and culturing, a lineage with large cells resulting from incomplete closure of the division ring was obtained. Genome sequencing highlighted a stop-gain mutation in amiC, leading to a dysfunctional AmiC division protein. The combination of FACS-based selection with IFC analysis to track the evolution of the bacteria population in real-time holds promise to rapidly select and culture new morphologies and association tendencies with many potential applications.

Efflux-linked accelerated evolution of antibiotic resistance at a population edge

Efflux is a common mechanism of resistance to antibiotics. We show that efflux itself promotes accumulation of antibiotic-resistance mutations (ARMs). This phenomenon was initially discovered in a bacterial swarm where the linked phenotypes of high efflux and high mutation frequencies spatially segregated to the edge, driven there by motility. We have uncovered and validated a global regulatory network connecting high efflux to downregulation of specific DNA-repair pathways even in non-swarming states. The efflux-DNA repair link was corroborated in a clinical "resistome" database: genomes with mutations that increase efflux exhibit a significant increase in ARMs. Accordingly, efflux inhibitors decreased evolvability to antibiotic resistance. Swarms also revealed how bacterial populations serve as a reservoir of ARMs even in the absence of antibiotic selection pressure. High efflux at the edge births mutants that, despite compromised fitness, survive there because of reduced competition. This finding is relevant to biofilms where efflux activity is high.

FliL Differentially Interacts with Two Stator Systems To Regulate Flagellar Motor Output in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

FliL emerged as a modulator of flagellar motor function in several bacterial species, but its function in Pseudomonas aeruginosa was unknown. Here, by performing single-motor studies using a bead assay, we elucidated its effects on the flagellar motor in P. aeruginosa .

Salmonella Typhimurium O-antigen and VisP play an important role in swarming and osmotic stress response during intracellular conditions

Salmonella Typhimurium is a pathogen of clinical relevance and a model of study in host-pathogen interactions. The virulence and stress-related periplasmic protein VisP is important during S. Typhimurium pathogenesis. It supports bacteria invading host cells, surviving inside macrophages, swimming, and succeeding in murine colitis model, O-antigen assembly, and responding to cationic antimicrobial peptides. This study aimed to investigate the role of the O-antigen molecular ruler WzzST and the periplasmic protein VisP in swarming motility and osmotic stress response. Lambda red mutagenesis was performed to generate single and double mutants, followed by swarming motility, qRT-PCR, Western blot, and growth curves. Here we demonstrate that the deletion of visP affects swarming under osmotic stress and changes the expression levels of genes responsible for chemotaxis, flagella assembly, and general stress response. The deletion of the gene encoding for the O-antigen co-polymerase wzzST increases swarming motility but not under osmotic stress. A second mutation in O-antigen co-polymerase wzzST in a ΔvisP background affected gene expression levels. The ΔvisP growth was affected by sodium and magnesium levels on N-minimum media. These data indicate that WzzST has a role in swarming the motility of S. Typhimurium, as the VisP is involved in chemotaxis and osmotic stress, specifically in response to MgCl₂ and NaCl.

Surveying a Swarm: Experimental Techniques to Establish and Examine Bacterial Collective Motion

The survival and successful spread of many bacterial species hinges on their mode of motility. One of the most distinct of these is swarming, a collective form of motility where a dense consortium of bacteria employ flagella to propel themselves across a solid surface. Surface environments pose unique challenges, derived from higher surface friction/tension and insufficient hydration. Bacteria have adapted by deploying an array of mechanisms to overcome these challenges. Beyond allowing bacteria to colonize new terrain in the absence of bulk liquid, swarming also bestows faster speeds and enhanced antibiotic resistance to the collective. These crucial attributes contribute to the dissemination, and in some cases pathogenicity, of an array of bacteria. This mini-review highlights; 1) aspects of swarming motility that differentiates it from other methods of bacterial locomotion. 2) Facilitatory mechanisms deployed by diverse bacteria to overcome different surface challenges. 3) The (often difficult) approaches required to cultivate genuine swarmers. 4) The methods available to observe and assess the various facets of this collective motion, as well as the features exhibited by the population as a whole.

Bacterial motility: machinery and mechanisms

Bacteria have developed a large array of motility mechanisms to exploit available resources and environments. These mechanisms can be broadly classified into swimming in aqueous media and movement over solid surfaces. Swimming motility involves either the rotation of rigid helical filaments through the external medium or gyration of the cell body in response to the rotation of internal filaments. On surfaces, bacteria swarm collectively in a thin layer of fluid powered by the rotation of rigid helical filaments, they twitch by assembling and disassembling type IV pili, they glide by driving adhesins along tracks fixed to the cell surface and, finally, non-motile cells slide over surfaces in response to outward forces due to colony growth. Recent technological advances, especially in cryo-electron microscopy, have greatly improved our knowledge of the molecular machinery that powers the various forms of bacterial motility. In this Review, we describe the current understanding of the physical and molecular mechanisms that allow bacteria to move around.

Molecular Basis for the Activation of Human Innate Immune Response by the Flagellin Derived from Plant-Pathogenic Bacterium, Acidovorax avenae

Acidovorax avenae is a flagellated, pathogenic bacterium to various plant crops that has also been found in human patients with haematological malignancy, fever, and sepsis; however, the exact mechanism for infection in humans is not known. We hypothesized that the human innate immune system could be responsive to the purified flagellin isolated from A. avenae, named FLA-AA. We observed the secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 by treating FLA-AA to human dermal fibroblasts, as well as macrophages. This response was exclusively through TLR5, which was confirmed by using TLR5-overexpression cell line, 293/hTLR5, as well as TLR5-specific inhibitor, TH1020. We also observed the secretion of inflammatory cytokine, IL-1β, by the activation of NLRC4 with FLA-AA. Overall, our results provide a molecular basis for the inflammatory response caused by FLA-AA in cell-based assays.

An expanding bacterial colony forms a depletion zone with growing droplets

Many species of bacteria have developed effective means to spread on solid surfaces. This study focuses on the expansion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on an agar gel surface under conditions of minimal evaporation. We report the occurrence and spread of a depletion zone within an expanded colony, where the bacteria laden film becomes thinner. The depletion zone is colocalized with a higher concentration of rhamnolipids, the biosurfactants that are produced by the bacteria and accumulate in the older region of the colony. With continued growth in population, dense bacterial droplets occur and coalesce in the depletion zone, displaying remarkable fluid dynamic behavior. Whereas expansion of a central depletion zone requires activities of live bacteria, new zones can be seeded elsewhere by adding rhamnolipids. These depletion zones due to the added surfactants expand quickly, even on plates covered by bacteria that have been killed by ultraviolet light. We explain the observed properties based on considerations of bacterial growth and secretion, osmotic swelling, fluid volume expansion, interfacial fluid dynamics involving Marangoni and capillary flows, and cell-cell cohesion.

WbaP is required for swarm motility and intramacrophage multiplication of Salmonella Enteritidis spiC mutant by glucose use ability

Salmonella spp. can survive and replicate in macrophage cells to cause persistent infection, SpiC is a necessary T3SS effector, but its pathogenic mechanism is still not known completely. In our study, Salmonella Enteritidis spiC mutant (SEΔspiC) was found to have stronger swarming motility and intramacrophage hyperproliferation which was closely related to glucose metabolism. SEΔspiC wbaP::Tn5 mutant was screened out by transposon mutagenesis, which had weaker swarming motility and intramacrophage replication ability than SEΔspiC in the presence of glucose. Bioinformatics displayed that undecaprenyl-phosphate galactose phosphotransferase (Wbap), encoded by wbaP gene, was a key enzyme for glucose metabolism and Lipopolysaccharide(LPS) synthesis, which confirmed our outcome that Wbap was involved in intramacrophage replication ability by glucose use in addition to swarming motility based on SEΔspiC. This discovery will further promote the understanding of the interaction between wbaP gene and spiC gene and the intracellular Salmonella replication mechanism.

A mathematical model of flagellar gene regulation and construction in Salmonella enterica

Millions of people worldwide develop foodborne illnesses caused by Salmonella enterica (S. enterica) every year. The pathogenesis of S. enterica depends on flagella, which are appendages that the bacteria use to move through the environment. Interestingly, populations of genetically identical bacteria exhibit heterogeneity in the number of flagella. To understand this heterogeneity and the regulation of flagella quantity, we propose a mathematical model that connects the flagellar gene regulatory network to flagellar construction. A regulatory network involving more than 60 genes controls flagellar assembly. The most important member of the network is the master operon, flhDC, which encodes the FlhD₄C₂ protein. FlhD₄C₂ controls the construction of flagella by initiating the production of hook basal bodies (HBBs), protein structures that anchor the flagella to the bacterium. By connecting a model of FlhD₄C₂ regulation to a model of HBB construction, we investigate the roles of various feedback mechanisms. Analysis of our model suggests that a combination of regulatory mechanisms at the protein and transcriptional levels induce bistable FlhD₄C₂ levels and heterogeneous numbers of flagella. Also, the balance of regulatory mechanisms that become active following HBB construction is sufficient to provide a counting mechanism for controlling the total number of flagella produced.

Salmonella causes foodborne illnesses in millions of people worldwide each year. Flagella, which are appendages that the bacteria use to move through the environment, are a key factor in the infection process. Populations of genetically identical bacteria have been observed to contain both motile cells, generally with 6–10 flagella, and nonmotile cells, with no flagella. In this paper, we use mathematical models of the gene network that regulates flagellar construction to explore how the bacteria controls the number of flagella produced. We suggest that a bacterium must accumulate a threshold amount of a master regulator protein to initiate flagella production and failure to reach the threshold results in no flagella. Downstream mechanisms that impact the amount of master regulator protein are sufficient to determine how many flagella are produced.

Investigating Flagella-Driven Motility in Escherichia coli by Applying Three Established Techniques in a Series

Motility is crucial to the survival and success of many bacterial species. Many methodologies exist to exploit motility to understand signaling pathways, to elucidate the function and assembly of flagellar parts, and to examine and understand patterns of movement. Here we demonstrate a combination of three of these methodologies. Motility in soft agar is the oldest, offering a strong selection for isolating gain-of-function suppressor mutations in motility-impaired strains, where motility is restored through a second mutation. The cell-tethering technique, first employed to demonstrate the rotary nature of the flagellar motor, can be used to assess the impact of signaling effectors on the motor speed and its ability to switch rotational direction. The "border-crossing" assay is more recent, where swimming bacteria can be primed to transition into moving collectively as a swarm. In combination, these protocols represent a systematic and powerful approach to identifying components of the motility machinery, and to characterizing their role in different facets of swimming and swarming. They can be easily adapted to study motility in other bacterial species.

Dynamic motility selection drives population segregation in a bacterial swarm

Population expansion in space, or range expansion, is widespread in nature and in clinical settings. Space competition among heterogeneous subpopulations during range expansion is essential to population ecology, and it may involve the interplay of multiple factors, primarily growth and motility of individuals. Structured microbial communities provide model systems to study space competition during range expansion. Here we use bacterial swarms to investigate how single-cell motility contributes to space competition among heterogeneous bacterial populations during range expansion. Our results revealed that motility heterogeneity can promote the spatial segregation of subpopulations via a dynamic motility selection process. The dynamic motility selection is enabled by speed-dependent persistence time bias of single-cell motion, which presumably arises from physical interaction between cells in a densely packed swarm. We further showed that the dynamic motility selection may contribute to collective drug tolerance of swarming colonies by segregating subpopulations with transient drug tolerance to the colony edge. Our results illustrate that motility heterogeneity, or "motility fitness," can play a greater role than growth rate fitness in determining the short-term spatial structure of expanding populations.

Role of CpxR in Biofilm Development: Expression of Key Fimbrial, O-Antigen and Virulence Operons of Salmonella Enteritidis

Salmonella Enteritidis is a non-typhoidal serovar of great public health significance worldwide. The RpoE sigma factor and CpxRA two-component system are the major regulators of the extracytoplasmic stress response. In this study, we found that the CpxR has highly significant, but opposite effects on the auto-aggregation and swarming motility of S. Enteritidis. Auto-aggregation was negatively affected in the ∆cpxR mutant, whereas the same mutant significantly out-performed its wild-type counterpart with respect to swarming motility, indicating that the CpxR plays a role in biofilm-associated phenotypes. Indeed, biofilm-related assays showed that the CpxR is of critical importance in biofilm development under both static (microtiter plate) and dynamic (flow cell) media flow conditions. In contrast, the RpoE sigma factor showed no significant role in biofilm development under dynamic conditions. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the cpxR mutation negatively affected the constitutive expression of the operons critical for biosynthesis of O-antigen and adherence, but positively affected the expression of virulence genes critical for Salmonella-mediated endocytosis. Conversely, CpxR induced the expression of curli csgAB and fimbrial stdAC operons only during biofilm development and flagellar motAB and fliL operons exclusively during the planktonic phase, indicating a responsive biofilm-associated loop of the CpxR regulator.

Escherichia coli Remodels the Chemotaxis Pathway for Swarming

The fundamental motile behavior of E. coli is a random walk, where straight “runs” are punctuated by “tumbles.” This behavior, conferred by the chemotaxis signaling system, is used to track chemical gradients in liquid. Our study results show that when migrating collectively on surfaces, E. coli modifies its chemosensory physiology to decrease its tumble bias (and hence to increase run durations) by post-transcriptional changes that alter the levels of a key signaling protein. We speculate that the low tumble bias may contribute to the observed Lévy walk (LW) trajectories within the swarm, where run durations have a power law distribution. In animals, LW patterns are hypothesized to maximize searches in unpredictable environments. Swarming bacteria face several challenges while moving collectively over a surface—maintaining cohesion, overcoming constraints imposed by a physical substrate, searching for nutrients as a group, and surviving lethal levels of antimicrobials. The altered chemosensory behavior that we describe in this report may help with these challenges.

Many flagellated bacteria “swarm” over a solid surface as a dense consortium. In different bacteria, swarming is facilitated by several alterations such as those corresponding to increased flagellum numbers, special stator proteins, or secreted surfactants. We report here a change in the chemosensory physiology of swarming Escherichia coli which alters its normal “run tumble” bias. E. coli bacteria taken from a swarm exhibit more highly extended runs (low tumble bias) and higher speeds than E. coli bacteria swimming individually in a liquid medium. The stability of the signaling protein CheZ is higher in swarmers, consistent with the observed elevation of CheZ levels and with the low tumble bias. We show that the tumble bias displayed by wild-type swarmers is the optimal bias for maximizing swarm expansion. In assays performed in liquid, swarm cells have reduced chemotactic performance. This behavior is specific to swarming, is not specific to growth on surfaces, and persists for a generation. Therefore, the chemotaxis signaling pathway is reprogrammed for swarming.

A statistical physics view of swarming bacteria

Bacterial swarming is a collective mode of motion in which cells migrate rapidly over surfaces, forming dynamic patterns of whirls and jets. This review presents a physical point of view of swarming bacteria, with an emphasis on the statistical properties of the swarm dynamics as observed in experiments. The basic physical principles underlying the swarm and their relation to contemporary theories of collective motion and active matter are reviewed and discussed in the context of the biological properties of swarming cells. We suggest a paradigm according to which bacteria have optimized some of their physical properties as a strategy for rapid surface translocation. In other words, cells take advantage of favorable physics, enabling efficient expansion that enhances survival under harsh conditions.

Flagellar number governs bacterial spreading and transport efficiency

Peritrichous bacteria synchronize and bundle their flagella to actively swim, while disruption of the bundle leads to a slow motility phase with a weak propulsion. It is still not known whether the number of flagella represents an evolutionary adaptation toward optimizing bacterial navigation. We study the swimming dynamics of differentially flagellated Bacillus subtilis strains in a quasi-two-dimensional system. We find that decreasing the number of flagella N f reduces the average turning angle between two successive run phases and enhances the run time and the directional persistence of the run phase. As a result, having fewer flagella is beneficial for long-distance transport and fast spreading, while having a lot of flagella is advantageous for the processes that require a slower spreading, such as biofilm formation. We develop a two-state random walk model that incorporates spontaneous switchings between the states and yields exact analytical expressions for transport properties, in remarkable agreement with experiments. The results of numerical simulations based on our two-state model suggest that the efficiency of searching and exploring the environment is optimized at intermediate values of N f. The optimal choice of N f, for which the search time is minimized, decreases with increasing the size of the environment in which the bacteria swim.

Assessing Travel Conditions: Environmental and Host Influences On Bacterial Surface Motility

The degree to which surface motile bacteria explore their surroundings is influenced by aspects of their local environment. Accordingly, regulation of surface motility is controlled by numerous chemical, physical, and biological stimuli. Discernment of such regulation due to these multiple cues is a formidable challenge. Additionally inherent ambiguity and variability from the assays used to assess surface motility can be an obstacle to clear delineation of regulated surface motility behavior. Numerous studies have reported single environmental determinants of microbial motility and lifestyle behavior but the translation of these data to understand surface motility and bacterial colonization of human host or environmental surfaces is unclear. Here, we describe the current state of the field and our understanding of exogenous factors that influence bacterial surface motility.

The Transient Multidrug Resistance Phenotype of Salmonella enterica Swarming Cells Is Abolished by Sub-inhibitory Concentrations of Antimicrobial Compounds

Swarming motility is the rapid and coordinated multicellular migration of bacteria across a moist surface. During swarming, bacterial cells exhibit increased resistance to multiple antibiotics, a phenomenon described as adaptive or transient resistance. In this study, we demonstrate that sub-inhibitory concentrations of cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, or chloramphenicol, but not that of amikacin, colistin, kanamycin or tetracycline, impair Salmonella enterica swarming. Chloramphenicol-treated S. enterica cells exhibited a clear decrease in their flagellar content, while treatment with other antibiotics that reduced swarming (cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim) inhibited polar chemoreceptor array assembly. Moreover, the increased resistance phenotype acquired by swarming cells was abolished by the presence of these antimicrobials. The same occurred in cells treated with these antimicrobial agents in combination with others that had no effect on swarming motility. Our results reveal the potential of inhibiting swarming ability to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of antimicrobial agents.

Determinants of Bacterial Morphology: From Fundamentals to Possibilities for Antimicrobial Targeting

Bacterial morphology is extremely diverse. Specific shapes are the consequence of adaptive pressures optimizing bacterial fitness. Shape affects critical biological functions, including nutrient acquisition, motility, dispersion, stress resistance and interactions with other organisms. Although the characteristic shape of a bacterial species remains unchanged for vast numbers of generations, periodical variations occur throughout the cell (division) and life cycles, and these variations can be influenced by environmental conditions. Bacterial morphology is ultimately dictated by the net-like peptidoglycan (PG) sacculus. The species-specific shape of the PG sacculus at any time in the cell cycle is the product of multiple determinants. Some morphological determinants act as a cytoskeleton to guide biosynthetic complexes spatiotemporally, whereas others modify the PG sacculus after biosynthesis. Accumulating evidence supports critical roles of morphogenetic processes in bacteria-host interactions, including pathogenesis. Here, we review the molecular determinants underlying morphology, discuss the evidence linking bacterial morphology to niche adaptation and pathogenesis, and examine the potential of morphological determinants as antimicrobial targets.

Biochemical characterization of the flagellar stator-associated inner membrane protein FliL from Vibrio alginolyticus

The flagellar motor is embedded in the cell envelope and rotates upon interaction between the stator and the rotor. The rotation is powered by ion flow through the stator. A single transmembrane protein named FliL is associated with torque generation in the flagellar motor. We established an Escherichia coli over-expression system for FliL of Vibrio alginolyticus, a marine bacterium that has a sodium-driven polar flagellum. We successfully expressed, purified, and crystallized the ca. 17 kDa full-length FliL protein and generated a construct that expresses only the ca. 14 kDa periplasmic region of FliL (ΔTM FliL). Biochemical characterization and NMR analysis revealed that ΔTM FliL weakly interacted with itself to form an oligomer. We speculate that the observed dynamic interaction may be involved in the role of FliL in flagellar motor function.

Genetic Analysis of Collective Motility of Paenibacillus sp. NAIST15-1

Bacteria have developed various motility mechanisms to adapt to a variety of solid surfaces. A rhizosphere isolate, Paenibacillus sp. NAIST15-1, exhibited unusual motility behavior. When spotted onto 1.5% agar media, Paenibacillus sp. formed many colonies, each of which moved around actively at a speed of 3.6 μm/sec. As their density increased, each moving colony began to spiral, finally forming a static round colony. Despite its unusual motility behavior, draft genome sequencing revealed that both the composition and organization of flagellar genes in Paenibacillus sp. were very similar to those in Bacillus subtilis. Disruption of flagellar genes and flagellar stator operons resulted in loss of motility. Paenibacillus sp. showed increased transcription of flagellar genes and hyperflagellation on hard agar media. Thus, increased flagella and their rotation drive Paenibacillus sp. motility. We also identified a large extracellular protein, CmoA, which is conserved only in several Paenibacillus and related species. A cmoA mutant could neither form moving colonies nor move on hard agar media; however, motility was restored by exogenous CmoA. CmoA was located around cells and enveloped cell clusters. Comparison of cellular behavior between the wild type and cmoA mutant indicated that extracellular CmoA is involved in drawing water out of agar media and/or smoothing the cell surface interface. This function of CmoA probably enables Paenibacillus sp. to move on hard agar media.

Bacterial swarmer cells in confinement: a mesoscale hydrodynamic simulation study

A wide spectrum of Peritrichous bacteria undergo considerable physiological changes when they are inoculated onto nutrition-rich surfaces and exhibit a rapid and collective migration denoted as swarming. Thereby, the length of such swarmer cells and their number of flagella increases substantially. In this article, we investigated the properties of individual E. coli-type swarmer cells confined between two parallel walls via mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations, combining molecular dynamics simulations of the swarmer cell with the multiparticle particle collision dynamics approach for the embedding fluid. E. coli-type swarmer cells are three-times longer than their planktonic counter parts, but their flagella density is comparable. By varying the wall separation, we analyze the confinement effect on the flagella arrangement, on the distribution of cells in the gap between the walls, and on the cell dynamics. We find only a weak dependence of confinement on the bundle structure and dynamics. The distribution of cells in the gap changes from a geometry-dominated behavior for very narrow to fluid-dominated behavior for wider gaps, where cells are preferentially located in the gap center for narrower gaps and stay preferentially next to one of the walls for wider gaps. Dynamically, the cells exhibit a wide spectrum of migration behaviors, depending on their flagella bundle arrangement, and ranges from straight swimming to wall rolling.

Staying in Shape: the Impact of Cell Shape on Bacterial Survival in Diverse Environments

Bacteria display an abundance of cellular forms and can change shape during their life cycle. Many plausible models regarding the functional significance of cell morphology have emerged. A greater understanding of the genetic programs underpinning morphological variation in diverse bacterial groups, combined with assays of bacteria under conditions that mimic their varied natural environments, from flowing freshwater streams to diverse human body sites, provides new opportunities to probe the functional significance of cell shape. Here we explore shape diversity among bacteria, at the levels of cell geometry, size, and surface appendages (both placement and number), as it relates to survival in diverse environments. Cell shape in most bacteria is determined by the cell wall. A major challenge in this field has been deconvoluting the effects of differences in the chemical properties of the cell wall and the resulting cell shape perturbations on observed fitness changes. Still, such studies have begun to reveal the selective pressures that drive the diverse forms (or cell wall compositions) observed in mammalian pathogens and bacteria more generally, including efficient adherence to biotic and abiotic surfaces, survival under low-nutrient or stressful conditions, evasion of mammalian complement deposition, efficient dispersal through mucous barriers and tissues, and efficient nutrient acquisition.

SOS System Induction Inhibits the Assembly of Chemoreceptor Signaling Clusters in Salmonella enterica

Swarming, a flagellar-driven multicellular form of motility, is associated with bacterial virulence and increased antibiotic resistance. In this work we demonstrate that activation of the SOS response reversibly inhibits swarming motility by preventing the assembly of chemoreceptor-signaling polar arrays. We also show that an increase in the concentration of the RecA protein, generated by SOS system activation, rather than another function of this genetic network impairs chemoreceptor polar cluster formation. Our data provide evidence that the molecular balance between RecA and CheW proteins is crucial to allow polar cluster formation in Salmonella enterica cells. Thus, activation of the SOS response by the presence of a DNA-injuring compound increases the RecA concentration, thereby disturbing the equilibrium between RecA and CheW and resulting in the cessation of swarming. Nevertheless, when the DNA-damage decreases and the SOS response is no longer activated, basal RecA levels and thus polar cluster assembly are reestablished. These results clearly show that bacterial populations moving over surfaces make use of specific mechanisms to avoid contact with DNA-damaging compounds.

The O-Antigen Capsule of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Facilitates Serum Resistance and Surface Expression of FliC

Group IV polysaccharide capsules are common in enteric bacteria and have more recently been described in nontyphoidal Salmonella species. Such capsules are known as O-antigen (O-Ag) capsules, due to their high degree of similarity to the O-Ag of the lipopolysaccharide (LPSO-Ag). Capsular polysaccharides are known virulence factors of many bacterial pathogens, facilitating evasion of immune recognition and systemic dissemination within the host. Previous studies on the O-Ag capsule of salmonellae have focused primarily on its role in bacterial surface attachment and chronic infection; however, the potential effects of the O-Ag capsule on acute pathogenesis have yet to be investigated. While much of the in vivo innate immune resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is attributed to the high-molecular-weight LPS, we hypothesized that the O-Ag capsule may enhance this resistance by diminishing surface expression of pathogen-associated molecular patterns, such as flagella, and increasing resistance to host immune molecules. To test this hypothesis, O-Ag capsule-deficient mutants were constructed, and the loss of O-Ag capsular surface expression was confirmed through microscopy and immunoblotting. Loss of O-Ag capsule production did not alter bacterial growth or production of LPS. Western blot analysis and confocal microscopy revealed that O-Ag capsule-deficient mutants demonstrate reduced resistance to killing by human serum. Furthermore, O-Ag capsule-deficient mutants produced exclusively phase I flagellin (FliC). Although O-Ag capsule-deficient mutants did not exhibit reduced virulence in a murine model of acute infection, in vitro results indicate that the O-Ag capsule may function to modify the antigenic nature of the bacterial surface, warranting additional investigation of a potential role of the structure in pathogenesis.

Water surface tension modulates the swarming mechanics of Bacillus subtilis

Many Bacillus subtilis strains swarm, often forming colonies with tendrils on agar medium. It is known that B. subtilis swarming requires flagella and a biosurfactant, surfactin. In this study, we find that water surface tension plays a role in swarming dynamics. B. subtilis colonies were found to contain water, and when a low amount of surfactin is produced, the water surface tension of the colony restricts expansion, causing bacterial density to rise. The increased density induces a quorum sensing response that leads to heightened production of surfactin, which then weakens water surface tension to allow colony expansion. When the barrier formed by water surface tension is breached at a specific location, a stream of bacteria swarms out of the colony to form a tendril. If a B. subtilis strain produces surfactin at levels that can substantially weaken the overall water surface tension of the colony, water floods the agar surface in a thin layer, within which bacteria swarm and migrate rapidly. This study sheds light on the role of water surface tension in regulating B. subtilis swarming, and provides insight into the mechanisms underlying swarming initiation and tendril formation.

Shelter in a Swarm

Flagella propel bacteria during both swimming and swarming, dispersing them widely. However, while swimming bacteria use chemotaxis to find nutrients and avoid toxic environments, swarming bacteria appear to suppress chemotaxis and to use the dynamics of their collective motion to continuously expand and acquire new territory, barrel through lethal chemicals in their path, carry along bacterial and fungal cargo that assists in exploration of new niches, and engage in group warfare for niche dominance. Here, we focus on two aspects of swarming, which, if understood, hold the promise of revealing new insights into microbial signaling and behavior, with ramifications beyond bacterial swarming. These are as follows: how bacteria sense they are on a surface and turn on programs that promote movement and how they override scarcity and adversity as dense packs.

How bacteria maintain location and number of flagella?

Bacteria differ in number and location of their flagella that appear in regular patterns at the cell surface (flagellation pattern). Despite the plethora of bacterial species, only a handful of these patterns exist. The correct flagellation pattern is a prerequisite for motility, but also relates to biofilm formation and the pathogenicity of disease-causing flagellated bacteria. However, the mechanisms that maintain location and number of flagella are far from being understood. Here, we review our knowledge on mechanisms that enable bacteria to maintain their appropriate flagellation pattern. While some peritrichous flagellation patterns might occur by rather simple stochastic processes, other bacterial species appear to rely on landmark systems to define the designated flagellar position. Such landmarks are the Tip system of Caulobacter crescentus or the signal recognition particle (SRP)-GTPase FlhF and the MinD/ParA-type ATPase FlhG (synonyms: FleN, YlxH and MinD2). The latter two proteins constitute a regulatory circuit essential for diverse flagellation patterns in many Gram-positive and negative species. The interactome of FlhF/G (e.g. C-ring proteins FliM, FliN, FliY or the transcriptional regulator FleQ/FlrA) seems evolutionary adapted to meet the specific needs for a respective pattern. This variability highlights the importance of the correct flagellation pattern for motile species.

Physics of microswimmers--single particle motion and collective behavior: a review

Locomotion and transport of microorganisms in fluids is an essential aspect of life. Search for food, orientation toward light, spreading of off-spring, and the formation of colonies are only possible due to locomotion. Swimming at the microscale occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where fluid friction and viscosity dominates over inertia. Here, evolution achieved propulsion mechanisms, which overcome and even exploit drag. Prominent propulsion mechanisms are rotating helical flagella, exploited by many bacteria, and snake-like or whip-like motion of eukaryotic flagella, utilized by sperm and algae. For artificial microswimmers, alternative concepts to convert chemical energy or heat into directed motion can be employed, which are potentially more efficient. The dynamics of microswimmers comprises many facets, which are all required to achieve locomotion. In this article, we review the physics of locomotion of biological and synthetic microswimmers, and the collective behavior of their assemblies. Starting from individual microswimmers, we describe the various propulsion mechanism of biological and synthetic systems and address the hydrodynamic aspects of swimming. This comprises synchronization and the concerted beating of flagella and cilia. In addition, the swimming behavior next to surfaces is examined. Finally, collective and cooperate phenomena of various types of isotropic and anisotropic swimmers with and without hydrodynamic interactions are discussed.

Swarm motility of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is inhibited by compounds from fruit peel extracts

Controlling spread of human pathogens on fresh produce is a top priority for public health reasons. Isolation of compounds from agricultural waste that would control spread of human pathogens was explored using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium as a model organism. In the environment, micro-organisms migrate as a 'community' especially when they move on moist surfaces. This type of motility is characterized as swarming motility. We examined extracts from agricultural waste such as soya bean husk, peels of orange, pineapple, avocado and pomegranate for antiswarming activity. Avocado and pineapple peels showed moderate (~40%) inhibition of swarming motility while pomegranate peel extract had high antiswarming activity (~85% inhibition) and was examined in further detail. Although the pomegranate peel extract was acidic, swarm-inhibitory activity was not due to low pH and the peel extract did not inhibit growth of Salmonella. Among the key swarm motility regulatory genes, class II (fliF, fliA, fliT and fliZ) and class III (fliC and fliM) regulators were downregulated upon exposure to pomegranate peel extract. Pomegranate peels offer great potential as a bioactive repellent for pathogenic micro-organisms on moist surfaces.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Controlling the spread of food-borne pathogens in moist environments is an important microbial food safety issue. Isolation of compounds from agricultural waste (such as fruit peels) that would control spread of human pathogens was explored using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium as a model organism. Pomegranate peels offer great potential as a bioactive repellent for pathogenic micro-organisms.

The unexhausted potential of E. coli

E. coli's hardiness, versatility, broad palate and ease of handling have made it the most intensively studied and best understood organism on the planet. However, research on E.coli has primarily examined it as a model organism, one that is abstracted from any natural history. But E. coli is far more than just a microbial lab rat. Rather, it is a highly diverse organism with a complex, multi-faceted niche in the wild. Recent studies of 'wild' E. coli have, for example, revealed a great deal about its presence in the environment, its diversity and genomic evolution, as well as its role in the human microbiome and disease. These findings have shed light on aspects of its biology and ecology that pose far-reaching questions and illustrate how an appreciation of E. coli's natural history can expand its value as a model organism.

A new player at the flagellar motor: FliL controls both motor output and bias

The bacterial flagellum is driven by a bidirectional rotary motor, which propels bacteria to swim through liquids or swarm over surfaces. While the functions of the major structural and regulatory components of the flagellum are known, the function of the well-conserved FliL protein is not. In Salmonella and Escherichia coli, the absence of FliL leads to a small defect in swimming but complete elimination of swarming. Here, we tracked single motors of these bacteria and found that absence of FliL decreases their speed as well as switching frequency. We demonstrate that FliL interacts strongly with itself, with the MS ring protein FliF, and with the stator proteins MotA and MotB and weakly with the rotor switch protein FliG. These and other experiments show that FliL increases motor output either by recruiting or stabilizing the stators or by increasing their efficiency and contributes additionally to torque generation at higher motor loads. The increased torque enabled by FliL explains why this protein is essential for swarming on an agar surface expected to offer increased resistance to bacterial movement.

FliL is a well-conserved bacterial flagellar protein whose absence leads to a variety of motility defects, ranging from moderate to complete inhibition of swimming in some bacterial species, inhibition of swarming in others, structural defects that break the flagellar rod during swarming in E. coli and Salmonella, and failure to eject the flagellar filament during the developmental transition of a swimmer to a stalk cell in Caulobacter crescentus. Despite these many phenotypes, a specific function for FliL has remained elusive. Here, we established a central role for FliL at the Salmonella and E. coli motors, where it interacts with both rotor and stator proteins, increases motor output, and contributes to the normal rotational bias of the motor.

Adaptor-mediated Lon proteolysis restricts Bacillus subtilis hyperflagellation

The Lon AAA+ protease is a highly conserved intracellular protease that is considered an anticancer target in eukaryotic cells and a crucial virulence regulator in bacteria. Lon degrades both damaged, misfolded proteins and specific native regulators, but how Lon discriminates among a large pool of candidate targets remains unclear. Here we report that Bacillus subtilis LonA specifically degrades the master regulator of flagellar biosynthesis SwrA governed by the adaptor protein swarming motility inhibitor A (SmiA). SmiA-dependent LonA proteolysis is abrogated upon microbe-substrate contact causing SwrA protein levels to increase and elevate flagellar density above a critical threshold for swarming motility atop solid surfaces. Surface contact-dependent cellular differentiation in bacteria is rapid, and regulated proteolysis may be a general mechanism of transducing surface stimuli.

Loss of FliL alters Proteus mirabilis surface sensing and temperature-dependent swarming

Proteus mirabilis is a dimorphic motile bacterium well known for its flagellum-dependent swarming motility over surfaces. In liquid, P. mirabilis cells are 1.5- to 2.0-μm swimmer cells with 4 to 6 flagella. When P. mirabilis encounters a solid surface, where flagellar rotation is limited, swimmer cells differentiate into elongated (10- to 80-μm), highly flagellated swarmer cells. In order for P. mirabilis to swarm, it first needs to detect a surface. The ubiquitous but functionally enigmatic flagellar basal body protein FliL is involved in P. mirabilis surface sensing. Previous studies have suggested that FliL is essential for swarming through its involvement in viscosity-dependent monitoring of flagellar rotation. In this study, we constructed and characterized ΔfliL mutants of P. mirabilis and Escherichia coli. Unexpectedly and unlike other fliL mutants, both P. mirabilis and E. coli ΔfliL cells swarm (Swr(+)). Further analysis revealed that P. mirabilis ΔfliL cells also exhibit an alteration in their ability to sense a surface: e.g., ΔfliL P. mirabilis cells swarm precociously over surfaces with low viscosity that normally impede wild-type swarming. Precocious swarming is due to an increase in the number of elongated swarmer cells in the population. Loss of fliL also results in an inhibition of swarming at <30°C. E. coli ΔfliL cells also exhibit temperature-sensitive swarming. These results suggest an involvement of FliL in the energetics and function of the flagellar motor.

Mutation of a Salmonella serogroup-C1-specific gene abrogates O7-antigen biosynthesis and triggers NaCl-dependent motility deficiency

Several molecular detection marker genes specific for a number of individual Salmonella serogroups have been recently identified in our lab by comparative genomics for the genotyping of diverse serogroups. To further understand the correlation between serotype and genotype, the function of a Salmonella serogroup-C1-specific gene (SC_2092) was analyzed in this study. It was indicated from the topological prediction using the deduced amino acid sequence of SC_2092 that this putative protein was highly similar to the confirmed Wzx flippases. Furthermore, SDS-PAGE revealed that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis, specifically O-antigen synthesis, was incomplete in an SC_2092 in-frame deletion mutant, and no agglutination reaction with the O7 antibody was exhibited in this mutant. Therefore, it was revealed that this Salmonella serogroup-C1-specific gene SC_2092 encoded a putative flippase, which was required for O7-polysaccharide biosynthesis, and was designated here as wzxC1. Subsequently, the effects of the deletion of wzxC1 on bacterial motility and sodium chloride (NaCl) tolerance were evaluated. The wzxC1 mutant lacked swarming motility on solid surfaces and was impaired in swimming motility in soft agar. Moreover, microscopic examination and RT-qPCR exhibited that an increased auto-aggregation and a strong defect in flagella expression, respectively, were responsible for the reduced motility in this mutant. In addition, the wzxC1 mutant was more sensitive than the wild-type strain to NaCl, and auto-aggregation of mutant cells was observed immediately up on the addition of 1% NaCl to the medium. Interestingly, the motility deficiency of the mutant strain, as well as the cell agglomeration and the decrease in flagellar expression, were relieved in a NaCl-free medium. This is the first study to experimentally demonstrate a connection between a Salmonella serogroup specific gene identified by comparative genomics with the synthesis of a specific O-antigen biosynthesis. Also, our results show that the mutation of wzxC1 triggers a NaCl-dependent motility deficiency.

RecA protein plays a role in the chemotactic response and chemoreceptor clustering of Salmonella enterica

The RecA protein is the main bacterial recombinase and the activator of the SOS system. In Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium, RecA is also essential for swarming, a flagellar-driven surface translocation mechanism widespread among bacteria. In this work, the direct interaction between RecA and the CheW coupling protein was confirmed, and the motility and chemotactic phenotype of a S. Typhimurium ΔrecA mutant was characterized through microfluidics, optical trapping, and quantitative capillary assays. The results demonstrate the tight association of RecA with the chemotaxis pathway and also its involvement in polar chemoreceptor cluster formation. RecA is therefore necessary for standard flagellar rotation switching, implying its essential role not only in swarming motility but also in the normal chemotactic response of S. Typhimurium.

A tale of two machines: a review of the BLAST meeting, Tucson, AZ, 20-24 January 2013

Since its inception, Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction (BLAST) meetings have been the place to exchange and share the latest developments in the field of bacterial signal transduction and motility. At the 12th BLAST meeting, held last January in Tucson, AZ, researchers from all over the world met to report and discuss progress in diverse aspects of the field. The majority of these advances, however, came at the level of atomic level structures and their associated mechanisms. This was especially true of the biological machines that sense and respond to environmental changes.

A distant homologue of the FlgT protein interacts with MotB and FliL and is essential for flagellar rotation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides

In this work, we describe a periplasmic protein that is essential for flagellar rotation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. This protein is encoded upstream of flgA, and its expression is dependent on the flagellar master regulator FleQ and on the class III flagellar activator FleT. Sequence comparisons suggest that this protein is a distant homologue of FlgT. We show evidence that in R. sphaeroides, FlgT interacts with the periplasmic regions of MotB and FliL and with the flagellar protein MotF, which was recently characterized as a membrane component of the flagellum in this bacterium. In addition, the localization of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-MotF is completely dependent on FlgT. The Mot(-) phenotype of flgT cells was weakly suppressed by point mutants of MotB that presumably keep the proton channel open and efficiently suppress the Mot(-) phenotype of motF and fliL cells, indicating that FlgT could play an additional role beyond the opening of the proton channel. The presence of FlgT in purified filament-hook-basal bodies of the wild-type strain was confirmed by Western blotting, and the observation of these structures under an electron microscope showed that the basal bodies from flgT cells had lost the ring that covers the LP ring in the wild-type structure. Moreover, MotF was detected by immunoblotting in the basal bodies obtained from the wild-type strain but not from flgT cells. From these results, we suggest that FlgT forms a ring around the LP ring, which anchors MotF and stabilizes the stator complex of the flagellar motor.