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The Fate of Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group in the Amoeba Environment

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Abstract

The Bacillus cereus sensu lato group consists of several closely related species, including B. anthracis, B. cereus sensu stricto, and B. thuringiensis. Spores of these pathogenic bacteria are commonly found in the soil but evidence suggests that they are unable to grow in such a natural environment in the absence of nutrient input. Amoebas have been reported to be an amplifier for several species of pathogenic bacteria and their potential involvement to explain the large amount of B. thuringiensis and B. cereus spores in soil has been frequently proposed. Here, we studied the fate of Bacillus and amoebas when cultured together. We show that the virulence factors produced by B. thuringiensis and B. cereus do not affect the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii, which, on the contrary, can phagocytose and effectively digest vegetative Bacillus cells to grow and prevent the formation of cysts. Bacterial spores can germinate in the amoeba environment and the vegetative cells can then form chains or aggregates that appear to be less efficiently phagocyted by the amoeba. The use of transcriptional fusions between fluorescent reporter genes and stationary phase- and sporulation-specific promoters showed that the sporulation process occurs more efficiently in the presence of amoebas than in their absence. Moreover, our results showed the amoeba environment to promote spore germination and allow the bacteria to complete their developmental cycle. Overall, this study suggests that the amoeba-Bacillus interaction creates a virtuous circle in which each protagonist helps the other to develop.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Acanthamoeba castellanii (ATCC 30010) was a kind gift from Fabienne Misguich (UVSQ). We are greatly indebted to Fabienne for the valuable advice she gave us on the amoeba world. We thank Michel Gohar for the gift of the plasmid PHT304-18ΩPsar-gfp.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). HC was funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC). The CyFlow space flow cytometer used in this study was funded by the DIM (Domaine d’intérêt majeur) Astrea (French regional program: Ast11 0137).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France

    Haibo Chen, Emilie Verplaetse, Leyla Slamti & Didier Lereclus

  2. Cell Physiology and Metabolism Dpt, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, CH-1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Tania Jauslin & Pierre Cosson

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  1. Haibo Chen
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  2. Emilie Verplaetse
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All authors contributed to the study conception, design, material preparation, data collection, and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Haibo Chen, Émilie Verplaetse, and Didier Lereclus, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Didier Lereclus.

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Chen, H., Verplaetse, E., Jauslin, T. et al. The Fate of Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group in the Amoeba Environment. Microb Ecol 83, 1088–1104 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01828-2

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