Emergence of a Synergistic Diversity as a Response to Competition in Pseudomonas putida Biofilms

Becoming settlers: Elements and mechanisms for surface colonization by Pseudomonas putida

Pseudomonads are considered to be among the most widespread culturable bacteria in mesophilic environments. The evolutive success of Pseudomonas species can be attributed to their metabolic versatility, in combination with a set of additional functions that enhance their ability to colonize different niches. These include the production of secondary metabolites involved in iron acquisition or having a detrimental effect on potential competitors, different types of motility, and the capacity to establish and persist within biofilms. Although biofilm formation has been extensively studied using the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a model organism, a significant body of knowledge is also becoming available for non-pathogenic Pseudomonas. In this review, we focus on the mechanisms that allow Pseudomonas putida to colonize biotic and abiotic surfaces and adapt to sessile life, as a relevant persistence strategy in the environment. This species is of particular interest because it includes plant-beneficial strains, in which colonization of plant surfaces may be relevant, and strains used for environmental and biotechnological applications, where the design and functionality of biofilm-based bioreactors, for example, also have to take into account the efficiency of bacterial colonization of solid surfaces. This work reviews the current knowledge of mechanistic and regulatory aspects of biofilm formation by P. putida and pinpoints the prospects in this field.

Microbial Biofilms: Structural Plasticity and Emerging Properties

Microbial biofilms are found everywhere and can be either beneficial or detrimental, as they are involved in crucial ecological processes and in severe chronic infections. The functional properties of biofilms are closely related to their three-dimensional (3D) structure, and the ability of microorganisms to collectively and dynamically shape the community spatial organization in response to stresses in such biological edifices. A large number of works have shown a relationship between the modulation of the spatial organization and ecological interactions in biofilms in response to environmental fluctuations, as well as their emerging properties essential for nutrient cycling and bioremediation processes in natural environments. On the contrary, numerous studies have emphasized the role of structural rearrangements and matrix production in the increased tolerance of bacteria in biofilms toward antimicrobials. In these last few years, the development of innovative approaches, relying on recent technological advances in imaging, computing capacity, and other analytical tools, has led to the production of original data that have improved our understanding of this close relationship. However, it has also highlighted the need to delve deeper into the study of cell behavior in such complex communities during 3D structure development and maturation- from a single-cell to a multicellular scale- to better control or harness positive and negative impacts of biofilms. For this Special Issue, the interplay between biofilm emerging properties and their 3D spatial organization considering different models, from single bacteria to complex environmental communities, and various environments, from natural ecosystems to industrial and medical settings are addressed.

Rugose small colony variant and its hyper-biofilm in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Adaption, evolution, and biotechnological potential

One of the hallmarks of the environmental bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is its excellent ecological flexibility, which can thrive in diverse ecological niches. In different ecosystems, P. aeruginosa may use different strategies to survive, such as forming biofilms in crude oil environment, converting to mucoid phenotype in the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung, or becoming persisters when treated with antibiotics. Rugose small colony variants (RSCVs) are the adaptive mutants of P. aeruginosa, which can be frequently isolated from chronic infections. During the past years, there has been a renewed interest in using P. aeruginosa as a model organism to investigate the RSCVs formation, persistence and pathogenesis, as RSCVs represent a hyper-biofilm formation, high adaptability, high-tolerance sub-population in biofilms. This review will briefly summarize recent advances regarding the phenotypic, genetic and host interaction associated with RSCVs, with an emphasis on P. aeruginosa. Meanwhile, some non-pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas fluorescence, Pseudomonas putida and Bacillus subtilis will be also included. Remarkable emphasis is given on intrinsic functions of such hyper-biofilm formation characteristic as well as its potential applications in several biocatalytic transformations including wastewater treatment, microbial fermentation, and plastic degradation. Hopefully, this review will attract the interest of researchers in various fields and shape future research focused not only on evolutionary biology but also on biotechnological applications related to RSCVs.

One gene, multiple ecological strategies: A biofilm regulator is a capacitor for sustainable diversity

Many organisms, including bacteria, live in fluctuating environments that require attachment and dispersal. These lifestyle decisions require processing of multiple external signals by several genetic pathways, but how they are integrated is largely unknown. We conducted multiple evolution experiments totaling >20,000 generations with Burkholderia cenocepacia populations grown in a model of the biofilm life cycle and identified parallel mutations in one gene, rpfR, that is a conserved central regulator. Because RpfR has multiple sensor and catalytic domains, different mutations can produce different ecological strategies that can coexist and even increase net growth. This study demonstrates that a single gene may coordinate complex life histories in biofilm-dwelling bacteria and that selection in defined environments can reshape niche breadth by single mutations.

Many bacteria cycle between sessile and motile forms in which they must sense and respond to internal and external signals to coordinate appropriate physiology. Maintaining fitness requires genetic networks that have been honed in variable environments to integrate these signals. The identity of the major regulators and how their control mechanisms evolved remain largely unknown in most organisms. During four different evolution experiments with the opportunist betaproteobacterium Burkholderia cenocepacia in a biofilm model, mutations were most frequently selected in the conserved gene rpfR. RpfR uniquely integrates two major signaling systems—quorum sensing and the motile–sessile switch mediated by cyclic-di-GMP—by two domains that sense, respond to, and control the synthesis of the autoinducer cis-2-dodecenoic acid (BDSF). The BDSF response in turn regulates the activity of diguanylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase domains acting on cyclic-di-GMP. Parallel adaptive substitutions evolved in each of these domains to produce unique life history strategies by regulating cyclic-di-GMP levels, global transcriptional responses, biofilm production, and polysaccharide composition. These phenotypes translated into distinct ecology and biofilm structures that enabled mutants to coexist and produce more biomass than expected from their constituents grown alone. This study shows that when bacterial populations are selected in environments challenging the limits of their plasticity, the evolved mutations not only alter genes at the nexus of signaling networks but also reveal the scope of their regulatory functions.

Three biofilm types produced by a model pseudomonad are differentiated by structural characteristics and fitness advantage

Model bacterial biofilm systems suggest that bacteria produce one type of biofilm, which is then modified by environmental and physiological factors, although the diversification of developing populations might result in the appearance of adaptive mutants producing altered structures with improved fitness advantage. Here we compare the air-liquid (A-L) interface viscous mass (VM) biofilm produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 and the wrinkly spreader (WS) and complementary biofilm-forming strain (CBFS) biofilm types produced by adaptive SBW25 mutants in order to better understand the link between these physical structures and the fitness advantage they provide in experimental microcosms. WS, CBFS and VM biofilms can be differentiated by strength, attachment levels and rheology, as well as by strain characteristics associated with biofilm formation. Competitive fitness assays demonstrate that they provide similar advantages under static growth conditions but respond differently to increasing levels of physical disturbance. Pairwise competitions between biofilms suggest that these strains must be competing for at least two growth-limiting resources at the A-L interface, most probably O₂ and nutrients, although VM and CBFS cells located lower down in the liquid column might provide an additional fitness advantage through the colonization of a less competitive zone below the biofilm. Our comparison of different SBW25 biofilm types illustrates more generally how varied biofilm characteristics and fitness advantage could become among adaptive mutants arising from an ancestral biofilm-forming strain and raises the question of how significant these changes might be in a range of medical, biotechnological and industrial contexts where diversification and change may be problematic.