Abstract
Recent studies investigating Bdellovibrio spp. have found that although this predator predominantly preys on Gram-negative organisms, under certain conditions (nutrient/prey limitation), it will adapt to survive and grow axenically (without prey) or in the presence of Gram-positive bacterial prey. These advances in the understanding of predatory bacteria have stimulated a renewed interest in these organisms and the potential applications of Bdellovibrio spp. to the benefit of society. Early studies primarily focused on the application of predatory bacteria as “live antibiotics” in the medical field, probiotics in aquaculture and veterinary medicine and their use in agriculture. Additionally, studies have investigated their prevalence in wastewater and environmental sources. However, comprehending that Bdellovibrio spp. may also prey on and target Gram-positive organisms, implies that these predators could specifically be applied for the bioremediation or removal of mixed bacterial communities. Recent studies have also indicated that Bdellovibrio spp. may be useful in controlling food spoilage organisms and subsequently decrease our reliance on food additives. This review will thus highlight recent developments in understanding Bdellovibrio spp. predation strategies and focus on potential new applications of these organisms for water treatment, food preservation, enhancement of industrial processes, and in combination therapies with bacteriophages and/or antibiotics to combat multi-drug resistant organisms.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Adapted from Rotem et al. (2015)]
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atterbury RJ, Hobley L, Till R et al (2011) Effects of orally administered Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus on the well-being and Salmonella colonization of young chicks. Appl Environ Microbiol 77:5794–5803. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00426-11
Bonfiglio G, Neroni B, Radocchia G et al (2020) Insight into the possible use of the predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus as a probiotic. Nutrients 12:1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082252
Bratanis E, Andersson T, Lood R et al (2020) Biotechnological potential of Bdellovibrio and like organisms and their secreted enzymes. Front Microbiol 11:662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00662
Cao H, He S, Wang H et al (2012) Bdellovibrios, potential biocontrol bacteria against pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila. Vet Microbiol 154:413–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2011.07.032
Cao H, Wang H, Yu J et al (2019) Encapsulated Bdellovibrio powder as a potential bio-disinfectant against whiteleg shrimp-pathogenic Vibrios. Microorganisms 7:244. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7080244
Cho G, Kwon J, Soh SM et al (2019) Sensitivity of predatory bacteria to different surfactants and their application to check bacterial predation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 103:8169–8178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-019-10069-w
Chu WH, Zhu W (2010) Isolation of Bdellovibrio as biological therapeutic agents used for the treatment of Aeromonas hydrophila infection in fish. Zoonoses Public Health 57:258–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1863-2378.2008.01224.x
Dashiff A, Junka RA, Libera M et al (2011) Predation of human pathogens by the predatory bacteria Micavibrio aeruginosavorus and Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. J Appl Microbiol 110:431–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2010.04900.x
Deeg CM, Le TT, Zimmer MM et al (2020) From the inside out: an epibiotic Bdellovibrio predator with an expanded genomic complement. J Bacteriol 202:e00565-e619. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00565-19
Dharani S, Kim DH, Shanks RMQ et al (2018) Susceptibility of colistin-resistant pathogens to predatory bacteria. Res Microbiol 169:52–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resmic.2017.09.001
Dwidar M, Jang H, Sangwan N et al (2020) Diffusible signaling factor, a quorum-sensing molecule, interferes with and is toxic towards Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J. Microb Ecol 6:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01585-8
Harding CJ, Huwiler SG, Somers H et al (2020) A lysozyme with altered substrate specificity facilitates prey cell exit by the periplasmic predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Nat Commun 11:4817. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18139-8
Hobley L, Fung RKY, Lambert C et al (2012) Discrete cyclic di-GMP-dependent control of bacterial predation versus axenic growth in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. PLoS Pathog 8(2):e1002493. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1002493
Hobley L, Summers JK, Till R et al (2020) Dual predation by bacteriophage and Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus can eradicate Escherichia coli prey in situations where single predation cannot. J Bacteriol 202:e00629-e719. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00629-19
Iebba V, Totino V, Santangelo F et al (2014) Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus directly attacks Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus cystic fibrosis isolates. Front Microbiol 5:1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00280
Im H, Choi SY, Son S et al (2017) Combined application of bacterial predation and violacein to kill polymicrobial pathogenic communities. Sci Rep 7:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14567-7
Karunker I, Rotem O, Dori-Bachash M et al (2013) A global transcriptional switch between the attack and growth forms of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. PLoS ONE 8(4):e61850. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061850
Kim E, Dwidar M, Mitchell RJ et al (2013) Assessing the effects of bacterial predation on membrane biofouling. Water Res 47:6024–6032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.07.023
Lambert C, Smith MC, Sockett RE (2003) A novel assay to monitor predator-prey interactions for Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109 J reveals a role for methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins in predation. Environ Microbiol 5:127–132. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00385.x
Lambert C, Evans KJ, Till R et al (2006) Characterizing the flagellar filament and the role of motility in bacterial prey-penetration by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Mol Microbiol 60:274–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2006.05081.x
Lambert C, Chang CY, Capeness MJ et al (2010) The first bite – Profiling the predatosome in the bacterial pathogen Bdellovibrio. PLoS ONE 5(1):e8599. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008599
Lerner TR, Lovering AL, Bui NK et al (2012) Specialized peptidoglycan hydrolases sculpt the intra-bacterial niche of predatory Bdellovibrio and increase population fitness. PLoS Pathog 8:e1002524. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1002524
Li Y, Qiu F, Yan H et al (2018) Increasing the autotrophic growth of Chlorella USTB-01 via the control of bacterial contamination by Bdellovibrio USTB-06. J Appl Microbiol 124:1131–1138. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.13682
Marine E, Milner DS, Lambert C et al (2020) A novel method to determine antibiotic sensitivity in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus reveals a DHFR-dependent natural trimethoprim resistance. Sci Rep 10:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62014-x
Martínez V, Herencias C, Jurkevitch E et al (2016) Engineering a predatory bacterium as a proficient killer agent for intracellular bio-products recovery: the case of the polyhydroxyalkanoates. Sci Rep 6:24381. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24381
Monnappa AK, Dwidar M, Seo JK et al (2014) Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus inhibits Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation and invasion into human epithelial cells. Sci Rep 4:3811–3819. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03811
Olanya OM, Lakshman DK (2015) Potential of predatory bacteria as biocontrol agents for foodborne and plant pathogens. J Plant Pathol 97:405–417. https://doi.org/10.4454/JPP.V97I3.027
Ottaviani D, Pieralisi S, Angelico G et al (2020) Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus to control Escherichia coli on meat matrices. Int J Food Sci Technol 55:988–994. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.14355
Özkan M, Yilmaz H, Çelik MA et al (2018) Application of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus for reducing fouling of membranes used for wastewater treatment. Turk J Biochem 43:296–305. https://doi.org/10.1515/tjb-2016-0302
Pantanella F, Iebba V, Mura F et al (2018) Behaviour of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus in the presence of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. New Microbiol 41(2):145–152
Pérez J, Contreras-Moreno FJ, Marcos-Torres FJ et al (2020) The antibiotic crisis: how bacterial predators can help. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 18:2547–2555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2020.09.010
Raghunathan D, Radford PM, Gell C et al (2019) Engulfment, persistence and fate of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus predators inside human phagocytic cells informs their future therapeutic potential. Sci Rep 9:4293. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-40223-3
Rendulic S, Jagtap P, Rosinus A et al (2004) A predator unmasked: life cycle of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus from a genomic perspective. Science 303:89–692. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1093027
Rotem O, Pasternak Z, Shimoni E et al (2015) Cell-cycle progress in obligate predatory bacteria is dependent upon sequential sensing of prey recognition and prey quality cues. PNAS 112:E6028–E6037. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1515749112
Saxon EB, Jackson RW, Bhumbra S et al (2014) Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100 guards against Pseudomonas tolaasii brown-blotch lesions on the surface of post-harvest Agaricus bisporus supermarket mushrooms. BMC Microbiol 14:163. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-14-163
Scherff RH (1972) Control of bacterial blight of soybean by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Phytopathology 63:400–402
Sester A, Korp J, Nett M (2020) Secondary metabolism of predatory bacteria. In: Jurkevitch E, Mitchell R (eds) The ecology of predation at the microscale. Springer, Cham, pp 127–153
Shanks RMQ, Davra VR, Romanowski EG et al (2013) An eye to a kill: using predatory bacteria to control gram-negative pathogens associated with ocular infections. PLoS ONE 8:e66723. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066723
Sockett RE (2009) Predatory lifestyle of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Annu Rev Microbiol 63:523–539. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.micro.091208.073346
Sockett RE, Lambert C (2004) Bdellovibrio as therapeutic agents: a predatory renaissance? Nat Rev Microbiol 2:669–675. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro959
Strauch E, Beck S, Appel B (2006) Bdellovibrio and like organisms: potential sources for new biochemicals and therapeutic agents? In: Jurkevitch E (ed) Predatory prokaryotes—microbiology monographs, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, pp 131–152
Wang Z, Kadouri DE, Wu M (2011) Genomic insights into an obligate epibiotic bacterial predator: Micavibrio aeruginosavorus ARL-13. BMC Genomics 12:453. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-12-453
Waso M, Khan S, Khan W (2019) Assessment of predatory bacteria and prey interactions using culture-based methods and EMA-qPCR. Microbiol Res 228:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2019.126305
Waso M, Khan S, Singh A et al (2020) Predatory bacteria in combination with solar disinfection and solar photocatalysis for the treatment of rainwater. Water Res 169:115281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115281
Waso M, Khan S, Ahmed W et al (2020) Expression of attack and growth phase genes of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus in the presence of Gram-negative and Gram-positive prey. Microbiol Res 235:126437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2020.126437
Wu B, Rong W, Fane AG (2017) The roles of bacteriophages in membrane-based water and wastewater treatment processes: a review. Water Res 110:120–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.12.004
Yilmaz H, Celik MA, Sengezer C et al (2014) Use of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus as biological cleaning method for MBR systems. In: Proceedings of Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology. May 30–31 2014. London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.15242/IIE.E0514531
Youdkes D, Helman Y, Burdman S et al (2020) Potential control of potato soft rot disease by the obligate predators Bdellovibrio and like organisms. Appl Environ Microbiol 86:e02543-e2619. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02543-19
Funding
No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualisation: MW, BR, BH and WK; Compiled and edited the manuscript: MW, BR, BH, SK and WK.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waso, M., Reyneke, B., Havenga, B. et al. Insights into Bdellovibrio spp. mechanisms of action and potential applications. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 37, 85 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03054-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03054-x