TY - JOUR
T1 - The model squid–vibrio symbiosis provides a window into the impact of strain- and species-level differences during the initial stages of symbiont engagement
AU - Koehler, Sabrina
AU - Gaedeke, Roxane
AU - Thompson, Cecilia
AU - Bongrand, Clotilde
AU - Visick, Karen L.
AU - Ruby, Edward
AU - McFall-Ngai, Margaret
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank T Carvalho for technical assistance with transmission electron microscopy, M Flaherty for the construction of the sypQ complementation plasmid, and A Tischler for the construction of the ES114 ΔsypQ::EmR mutant. This study was made possible with funding from the National Institutes of Health grants R37 AI150661 (to M McFall-Ngai and EG Ruby), R01 OD11024 (to EG Ruby and M McFall-Ngai) and GM114288 (to K Visick).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Among horizontally acquired symbioses, the mechanisms underlying microbial strain- and species-level specificity remain poorly understood. Here, confocal-microscopy analyses and genetic manipulation of the squid–vibrio association revealed quantitative differences in a symbiont's capacity to interact with the host during initial engagement. Specifically, dominant strains of Vibrio fischeri, ‘D-type’, previously named for their dominant, single-strain colonization of the squid's bioluminescent organ, were compared with ‘S-type’, or ‘sharing’, strains, which can co-colonize the organ. These D-type strains typically: (i) formed aggregations of 100s–1000s of cells on the light-organ surface, up to 3 orders of magnitude larger than those of S-type strains; (ii) showed dominance in co-aggregation experiments, independent of inoculum size or strain proportion; (iii) perturbed larger areas of the organ's ciliated surface; and, (iv) appeared at the pore of the organ approximately 4×s more quickly than S-type strains. At least in part, genes responsible for biofilm synthesis control the hyperaggregation phenotype of a D-type strain. Other marine vibrios produced relatively small aggregations, while an array of marine Gram-positive and -negative species outside of the Vibrionaceae did not attach to the organ's surface. These studies provide insight into the impact of strain variation on early events leading to establishment of an environmentally acquired symbiosis.
AB - Among horizontally acquired symbioses, the mechanisms underlying microbial strain- and species-level specificity remain poorly understood. Here, confocal-microscopy analyses and genetic manipulation of the squid–vibrio association revealed quantitative differences in a symbiont's capacity to interact with the host during initial engagement. Specifically, dominant strains of Vibrio fischeri, ‘D-type’, previously named for their dominant, single-strain colonization of the squid's bioluminescent organ, were compared with ‘S-type’, or ‘sharing’, strains, which can co-colonize the organ. These D-type strains typically: (i) formed aggregations of 100s–1000s of cells on the light-organ surface, up to 3 orders of magnitude larger than those of S-type strains; (ii) showed dominance in co-aggregation experiments, independent of inoculum size or strain proportion; (iii) perturbed larger areas of the organ's ciliated surface; and, (iv) appeared at the pore of the organ approximately 4×s more quickly than S-type strains. At least in part, genes responsible for biofilm synthesis control the hyperaggregation phenotype of a D-type strain. Other marine vibrios produced relatively small aggregations, while an array of marine Gram-positive and -negative species outside of the Vibrionaceae did not attach to the organ's surface. These studies provide insight into the impact of strain variation on early events leading to establishment of an environmentally acquired symbiosis.
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U2 - 10.1111/1462-2920.14392
DO - 10.1111/1462-2920.14392
M3 - Article
C2 - 30136358
AN - SCOPUS:85054341773
SN - 1462-2912
VL - 21
SP - 3269
EP - 3283
JO - Environmental Microbiology
JF - Environmental Microbiology
IS - 9
ER -