Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026
07:34
Quantification of Interbacterial Competition using Single-Cell Fluorescence Imaging
Published on: September 2, 2021
3.7K
Burkholderia cepacia Complex Contact-Dependent Growth Inhibition Systems Mediate Interbacterial Competition.
Tanya Myers-Morales1, A Elizabeth Oates1, Matthew S Byrd2
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
Journal of Bacteriology
|April 10, 2019
Summary
Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria use contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems for competition. This study shows Bcc species have diverse CDI systems, with Burkholderia multivorans using two distinct systems that impact adherence and competition, even with other species.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Bacterial Pathogenesis
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) is a bacterial cell-to-cell communication system.
- The Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) comprises opportunistic pathogens causing infections in cystic fibrosis patients.
- CDI systems are widespread in Gram-negative bacteria but their diversity and function in Bcc remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the diversity and function of CDI systems in Bcc species.
- To characterize the CDI systems in Burkholderia multivorans, a significant opportunistic pathogen.
- To explore the potential of CDI in interspecies bacterial competition and therapeutic applications.
Main Methods:
- Bioinformatic analysis of CDI system genes in Bcc species.
- Genetic manipulation of CDI system components in Burkholderia multivorans.
- Coculture experiments to assess interbacterial competition and adherence.
Main Results:
- Bcc species exhibit significant diversity in their predicted CDI system genes.
- Burkholderia multivorans possesses two unique CDI systems that mediate intrastrain competition and enhance bacterial adherence.
- Nonpathogenic Burkholderia thailandensis demonstrated interspecies CDI, inhibiting B. multivorans growth.
Conclusions:
- CDI systems are functionally diverse within the Bcc and play roles in bacterial competition and colonization.
- The identified CDI systems in B. multivorans contribute to its pathogenic potential.
- CDI represents a potential target for developing novel therapeutic strategies against Bcc infections.
Related Concept Videos
01:19Contact-dependent Signaling
46.9K
Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through receptor-ligand interactions or by specialized cytoplasmic channels that allow the flow of small molecules between cells. In animal cells, channels called gap junctions facilitate contact-dependent signaling in certain tissues, whereas, plasmodesmata perform a similar function in plants.
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...
46.9K
02:34Competition
24.4K
When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.
24.4K
00:57Population Growth
28.2K
Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
28.2K
00:46Feedback Inhibition
57.0K
Biochemical reactions are occurring constantly in cells, converting starting substances to different products, usually with the help of enzymes that speed the reactions. Without enzymes, it would take far too long for most reactions to occur to be useful to the cell!
57.0K
01:13Contact Angle
18.3K
When a solid is dipped inside a liquid, the liquid surface becomes curved near the contact. For some solid–liquid interfaces, the liquid is pulled up along the solid, while for others, the liquid surface is convex or depressed near the solid surface. This phenomenon can be explained using the concept of cohesive and adhesive forces.
The adhesive force is the molecular force between molecules of different materials, that is, between the molecules of the solid and the liquid. The cohesive...
The adhesive force is the molecular force between molecules of different materials, that is, between the molecules of the solid and the liquid. The cohesive...
18.3K
01:57Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
2.9K
Groups of proteins may form a complex where each protein in this complex has a different role in the overall execution of the complex’s function. Often some of the proteins in the complex can be replaced by a closely related variant to give a complex that contains many of the same components yet is functionally distinct.
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
2.9K