Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

, Volume 99, Issue 19, pp 8285–8294 | Cite as

Cells of Escherichia coli are protected against severe chemical stress by co-habiting cell aggregates formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

  • Nina Jagmann
  • Sebastian Franz Henke
  • Bodo Philipp
Environmental biotechnology
First Online:
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Abstract

Bacterial cells within biofilms and cell aggregates show increased resistance against chemical stress compared with suspended cells. It is not known whether bacteria that co-habit biofilms formed by other bacteria also acquire such resistance. This scenario was investigated in a proof-of-principle experiment with Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1 as cell aggregate-forming bacterium and Escherichia coli strain MG1655 as potential co-habiting bacterium equipped with an inducible bioluminescence system. Cell aggregation of strain PAO1 can be induced by the toxic detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). In single cultures of strain MG1655, bioluminescence was inhibited by the protonophor carbonylcyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) but the cells were still viable. By applying CCCP and SDS together, cells of strain MG1655 lost their bioluminescence and viability indicating the importance of energy-dependent resistance mechanisms against SDS. In co-suspensions with strain PAO1, bioluminescence of strain MG1655 was sustained in the presence of SDS and CCCP. Image analysis showed that bioluminescent cells were located in cell aggregates formed by strain PAO1. Thus, cells of strain MG1655 that co-habited cell aggregates formed by strain PAO1 were protected against a severe chemical stress that was lethal to them in single cultures. Co-habiting could lead to increased survival of pathogens in clinical settings and could be employed in biotechnological applications involving toxic milieus.

Keywords

Mixed-species biofilm Cell aggregation Chemical stress resistance Pseudomonas aeruginosa Escherichia coli Bioluminescence 
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Notes

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Nina Jagmann
    • 1
  • Sebastian Franz Henke
    • 1
    • 2
  • Bodo Philipp
    • 1
  1. 1.Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und BiotechnologieWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) MünsterMünsterGermany
  2. 2.Molekulare Nephrologie, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik DWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) MünsterMünsterGermany

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