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Mucoidy, a general mechanism for maintaining lytic phage in populations of bacteria

Waqas Chaudhry1, Esther Lee1, Andrew Worthy1

  • 1Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

FEMS Microbiology Ecology
|August 27, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Mucoid Escherichia coli, resistant to phages, maintain lytic virus populations. This occurs due to rapid transitions from resistant mucoid to susceptible non-mucoid states, allowing phage replication and survival.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Virology
  • Bacteriology

Background:

  • Lytic viruses (phages) face challenges in maintaining populations within bacterial communities resistant to their replication.
  • Bacterial populations can develop resistance mechanisms, complicating phage survival and dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how lytic phages are maintained in bacterial populations exhibiting phage resistance.
  • To explore the role of mucoidy, a state of overproducing exopolysaccharides, in bacterial phage resistance and phage-host dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Serial transfer culture experiments with mucoid Escherichia coli MG1655.
  • Mathematical modeling to analyze phage-bacteria population dynamics.
  • Single-cell experiments and genomic analysis to support hypotheses.

Main Results:

  • Mucoid Escherichia coli populations resistant to multiple phages maintained phage populations with minimal impact on total bacterial density.
  • High transition rates from resistant mucoid to susceptible non-mucoid states were identified as a key factor.
  • Experimental and genomic data supported the hypothesis linking transition rates to phage maintenance.

Conclusions:

  • Mucoidy in Escherichia coli provides a general mechanism for lytic phage maintenance in bacterial populations.
  • High rates of reversion from mucoid (resistant) to non-mucoid (susceptible) states are crucial for sustained phage populations.
  • Understanding these genetic and molecular mechanisms is key to comprehending phage persistence in bacterial ecosystems.
Keywords:
E. colibacterial ecologybacteriophagemucoidyphage ecologyphage therapy

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