O-Specific Antigen-Dependent Surface Hydrophobicity Mediates Aggregate Assembly Type in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sheyda Azimi, Georgia Institute of Technology; Jacob Thomas, Georgia Institute of Technology; Sara E Cleland, Georgia Institute of Technology; Jennifer Curtis, Emory University; Joanna Goldberg, Emory University; Stephen P Diggle, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-07-01
• Publisher: AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 Azimi et al.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00860-21
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: MBIO
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: e0086021
• End Page: e0086021
• Grant/Funding Information: For funding, we thank the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for grants (DIGGLE18I0 and DIGGLE20G0) to S.P.D. and a fellowship to S.A. (AZIMI18F0), CF@LANTA for a fellowship to S.A. (3206AXB), the National Institutes of Health for a grant (R01AI153116) to S.P.D., and the National Science Foundation for a grant (1806606) to J.E.C.
• Keywords: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; EVOLUTION; O-antigen; hydrophobicity; depletion aggregation; ADAPTATION; GROWTH; ADHESION; LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE; GENOME; IN-VITRO; Science & Technology; BACTERIA; DNA; BIOFILMS; cystic fibrosis; Microbiology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; lipopolysaccharide
• Research Categories: Physics, General; Health Sciences, Immunology

Abstract

Bacteria live in spatially organized aggregates during chronic infections, where they adapt to the host environment, evade immune responses, and resist therapeutic interventions. Although it is known that environmental factors such as polymers influence bacterial aggregation, it is not clear how bacterial adaptation during chronic infection impacts the formation and spatial organization of aggregates in the presence of polymers. Here, we show that in an in vitro model of cystic fibrosis (CF) containing the polymers extracellular DNA (eDNA) and mucin, O-specific antigen is a major factor determining the formation of two distinct aggregate assembly types of Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to alterations in cell surface hydrophobic-ity. Our findings suggest that during chronic infection, the interplay between cell surface properties and polymers in the environment may influence the formation and structure of bacterial aggregates, which would shed new light on the fitness costs and benefits of O-antigen production in environments such as CF lungs. IMPORTANCE During chronic infection, several factors contribute to the biogeography of microbial communities. Heterogeneous populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa form aggregates in cystic fibrosis airways; however, the impact of this population heterogeneity on spatial organization and aggregate assembly is not well understood. In this study, we found that changes in O-specific antigen determine the spatial organization of P. aer-uginosa cells by altering the relative cell surface hydrophobicity. This finding suggests a role for O-antigen in regulating P. aeruginosa aggregatesizeandshapeincysticfibrosis airways.