Matrix-trapped viruses can prevent invasion of bacterial biofilms by colonizing cells

eLife

Matthew C Bond¹  Carey D Nadell¹  Praveen K Singh²  Lucia Vidakovic²  Knut Drescher³ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States;Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany;Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany;Department of Physics, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany;Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland;

关键词: biofilm;    extracellular matrix;    bacteriophage;    spatial ecology;    invasion;    community assembly;    E. coli;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.65355

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

Bacteriophages can be trapped in the matrix of bacterial biofilms, such that the cells inside them are protected. It is not known whether these phages are still infectious and whether they pose a threat to newly arriving bacteria. Here, we address these questions using Escherichia coli and its lytic phage T7. Prior work has demonstrated that T7 phages are bound in the outermost curli polymer layers of the E. coli biofilm matrix. We show that these phages do remain viable and can kill colonizing cells that are T7-susceptible. If cells colonize a resident biofilm before phages do, we find that they can still be killed by phage exposure if it occurs soon thereafter. However, if colonizing cells are present on the biofilm long enough before phage exposure, they gain phage protection via envelopment within curli-producing clusters of the resident biofilm cells.

【 授权许可】

CC BY