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Lee AH, Gupta R, Nguyen HN, Schmitz IR, Siegele DA, Lele PP. Heterogeneous Distribution of Proton Motive Force in Nonheritable Antibiotic Resistance. mBio 2023; 14:e0238422. [PMID: 36598258 PMCID: PMC9973297 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02384-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacterial infections that are difficult to eradicate are often treated by sequentially exposing the bacteria to different antibiotics. Although effective, this approach can give rise to epigenetic or other phenomena that may help some cells adapt to and tolerate the antibiotics. Characteristics of such adapted cells are dormancy and low energy levels, which promote survival without lending long-term genetic resistance against antibiotics. In this work, we quantified motility in cells of Escherichia coli that adapted and survived sequential exposure to lethal doses of antibiotics. In populations that adapted to transcriptional inhibition by rifampicin, we observed that ~1 of 3 cells continued swimming for several hours in the presence of lethal concentrations of ampicillin. As motility is powered by proton motive force (PMF), our results suggested that many adapted cells retained a high PMF. Single-cell growth assays revealed that the high-PMF cells resuscitated and divided upon the removal of ampicillin, just as the low-PMF cells did, a behavior reminiscent of persister cells. Our results are consistent with the notion that cells in a clonal population may employ multiple different mechanisms to adapt to antibiotic stresses. Variable PMF is likely a feature of a bet-hedging strategy: a fraction of the adapted cell population lies dormant while the other fraction retains high PMF to be able to swim out of the deleterious environment. IMPORTANCE Bacterial cells with low PMF may survive antibiotic stress due to dormancy, which favors nonheritable resistance without genetic mutations or acquisitions. On the other hand, cells with high PMF are less tolerant, as PMF helps in the uptake of certain antibiotics. Here, we quantified flagellar motility as an indirect measure of the PMF in cells of Escherichia coli that had adapted to ampicillin. Despite the disadvantage of maintaining a high PMF in the presence of antibiotics, we observed high PMF in ~30% of the cells, as evidenced by their ability to swim rapidly for several hours. These and other results were consistent with the idea that antibiotic tolerance can arise via different mechanisms in a clonal population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie H. Lee
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Rachit Gupta
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Hong Nhi Nguyen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Isabella R. Schmitz
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Deborah A. Siegele
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Pushkar P. Lele
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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Antani JD, Sumali AX, Lele TP, Lele PP. Asymmetric random walks reveal that the chemotaxis network modulates flagellar rotational bias in Helicobacter pylori. eLife 2021; 10:63936. [PMID: 33493107 PMCID: PMC7834020 DOI: 10.7554/elife.63936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The canonical chemotaxis network modulates the bias for a particular direction of rotation in the bacterial flagellar motor to help the cell migrate toward favorable chemical environments. How the chemotaxis network in Helicobacter pylori modulates flagellar functions is unknown, which limits our understanding of chemotaxis in this species. Here, we determined that H. pylori swim faster (slower) whenever their flagella rotate counterclockwise (clockwise) by analyzing their hydrodynamic interactions with bounding surfaces. This asymmetry in swimming helped quantify the rotational bias. Upon exposure to a chemo-attractant, the bias decreased and the cells tended to swim exclusively in the faster mode. In the absence of a key chemotaxis protein, CheY, the bias was zero. The relationship between the reversal frequency and the rotational bias was unimodal. Thus, H. pylori’s chemotaxis network appears to modulate the probability of clockwise rotation in otherwise counterclockwise-rotating flagella, similar to the canonical network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jyot D Antani
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
| | - Anita X Sumali
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
| | - Tanmay P Lele
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, College Station, TX 77840, United States.,Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX 77030, United States
| | - Pushkar P Lele
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
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Biphasic chemotaxis of Escherichia coli to the microbiota metabolite indole. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:6114-6120. [PMID: 32123098 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1916974117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chemotaxis to prominent microbiota metabolites such as indole is important in the formation of microbial communities in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, the basis of chemotaxis to indole is poorly understood. Here, we exposed Escherichia coli to a range of indole concentrations and measured the dynamic responses of individual flagellar motors to determine the chemotaxis response. Below 1 mM indole, a repellent-only response was observed. At 1 mM indole and higher, a time-dependent inversion from a repellent to an attractant response was observed. The repellent and attractant responses were mediated by the Tsr and Tar chemoreceptors, respectively. Also, the flagellar motor itself mediated a repellent response independent of the receptors. Chemotaxis assays revealed that receptor-mediated adaptation to indole caused a bipartite response-wild-type cells were attracted to regions of high indole concentration if they had previously adapted to indole but were otherwise repelled. We propose that indole spatially segregates cells based on their state of adaptation to repel invaders while recruiting beneficial resident bacteria to growing microbial communities within the GI tract.
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Ford KM, Antani JD, Nagarajan A, Johnson MM, Lele PP. Switching and Torque Generation in Swarming E. coli. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:2197. [PMID: 30279682 PMCID: PMC6153309 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli swarm on semi-solid surfaces with the aid of flagella. It has been hypothesized that swarmer cells overcome the increased viscous drag near surfaces by developing higher flagellar thrust and by promoting surface wetness with the aid of a flagellar switch. The switch enables reversals between clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) directions of rotation of the flagellar motor. Here, we measured the behavior of flagellar motors in swarmer cells. Results indicated that although the torque was similar to that in planktonic cells, the tendency to rotate CCW was higher in swarmer cells. This suggested that swarmers likely have a smaller pool of phosphorylated CheY. Results further indicated that the upregulation of the flagellin gene was not critical for flagellar thrust or swarming. Consistent with earlier reports, moisture added to the swarm surface restored swarming in a CCW-only mutant, but not in a FliG mutant that rotated motors CW-only (FliGCW). Fluorescence assays revealed that FliGCW cells grown on agar surfaces carried fewer flagella than planktonic FliGCW cells. The surface-dependent reduction in flagella correlated with a reduction in the number of putative flagellar preassemblies. These results hint toward a possibility that the conformational dynamics of switch proteins play a role in the proper assembly of flagellar complexes and flagellar export, thereby aiding bacterial swarming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie M Ford
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Jyot D Antani
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Aravindh Nagarajan
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Madeline M Johnson
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Pushkar P Lele
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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Diethmaier C, Chawla R, Canzoneri A, Kearns DB, Lele PP, Dubnau D. Viscous drag on the flagellum activates Bacillus subtilis entry into the K-state. Mol Microbiol 2017; 106:367-380. [PMID: 28800172 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Bacillus subtilis flagella are not only required for locomotion but also act as sensors that monitor environmental changes. Although how the signal transmission takes place is poorly understood, it has been shown that flagella play an important role in surface sensing by transmitting a mechanical signal to control the DegS-DegU two-component system. Here we report a role for flagella in the regulation of the K-state, which enables transformability and antibiotic tolerance (persistence). Mutations impairing flagellar synthesis are inferred to increase DegU-P, which inhibits the expression of ComK, the master regulator for the K-state, and reduces transformability. Tellingly, both deletion of the flagellin gene and straight filament (hagA233V ) mutations increased DegU phosphorylation despite the fact that both mutants had wild type numbers of basal bodies and the flagellar motors were functional. We propose that higher viscous loads on flagellar motors result in lower DegU-P levels through an unknown signaling mechanism. This flagellar-load based mechanism ensures that cells in the motile subpopulation have a tenfold enhanced likelihood of entering the K-state and taking up DNA from the environment. Further, our results suggest that the developmental states of motility and competence are related and most commonly occur in the same epigenetic cell type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Diethmaier
- Public Health Research Institute Center, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Ravi Chawla
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station Texas, TX, USA
| | | | - Daniel B Kearns
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Pushkar P Lele
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station Texas, TX, USA
| | - David Dubnau
- Public Health Research Institute Center, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
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Torque, but not FliL, regulates mechanosensitive flagellar motor-function. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5565. [PMID: 28717192 PMCID: PMC5514156 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05521-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The stator-complex in the bacterial flagellar motor is responsible for surface-sensing. It remodels in response to perturbations in viscous loads, recruiting additional stator-units as the load increases. Here, we tested a hypothesis that the amount of torque generated by each stator-unit modulates its association with the rotor. To do this, we measured stator-binding to the rotor in mutants in which motors reportedly develop lower torque compared to wildtype motors. First, we employed a strain lacking fliL. Contrary to earlier reports, measurements indicated that the torque generated by motors in the fliL strain was similar to that in the wildtype, at high loads. In these motors, stator-binding was unchanged. Next, experiments with a paralyzed strain indicated that the stator-binding was measurably weaker when motors were unable to generate torque. An analytical model was developed that incorporated an exponential dependence of the unit’s dissociation rate on the force delivered to the rotor. The model provided accurate fits to measurements of stator-rotor binding over a wide range of loads. Based on these results, we propose that the binding of each stator-unit is enhanced by the force it develops. Furthermore, FliL does not play a significant role in motor function in E. coli.
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