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Proceedings of the National Academy of... Feb 2022Bacteria are efficient colonizers of a wide range of secluded microhabitats, such as soil pores, skin follicles, or intestinal crypts. How the structural diversity of...
Bacteria are efficient colonizers of a wide range of secluded microhabitats, such as soil pores, skin follicles, or intestinal crypts. How the structural diversity of these habitats modulates microbial self-organization remains poorly understood, in part because of the difficulty to precisely manipulate the physical structure of microbial environments. Using a microfluidic device to grow bacteria in crypt-like incubation chambers of systematically varied lengths, we show that small variations in the physical structure of the microhabitat can drastically alter bacterial colonization success and resistance against invaders. Small crypts are uncolonizable; intermediately sized crypts can stably support dilute populations, while beyond a second critical length scale, populations phase separate into a dilute region and a jammed region. The jammed state is characterized by extreme colonization resistance, even if the resident strain is suppressed by an antibiotic. Combined with a flexible biophysical model, we demonstrate that colonization resistance and associated priority effects can be explained by a crowding-induced phase transition, which results from a competition between proliferation and density-dependent cell leakage. The emerging sensitivity to scale underscores the need to control for scale in microbial ecology experiments. Systematic flow-adjustable length-scale variations may serve as a promising strategy to elucidate further scale-sensitive tipping points and to rationally modulate the stability and resilience of microbial colonizers.
Topics: Acetobacter; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacteriological Techniques; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Tetracycline
PubMed: 35145031
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115496119 -
Plasmid Mar 2021The bacterium Oecophyllibacter saccharovorans of family Acetobacteraceae is a symbiont of weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina. In our previous study, we published the...
The bacterium Oecophyllibacter saccharovorans of family Acetobacteraceae is a symbiont of weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina. In our previous study, we published the finding of novel O. saccharovorans strains Ha5, Ta1 and Jb2 (Chua et al. 2020) but their plasmid sequences have not been reported before. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the sole rrn operon of their genomes was detected on a 6.6 kb circular replicon. This replicon occurred in high copy number, much smaller size and lower G + C content than the main chromosome. Based on these features, the 6.6 kb circular replicon was regarded as rrn operon-containing plasmid. Further restriction analysis on the plasmids confirmed their circular conformation. A Southern hybridization analysis also corroborated the presence of 16S rRNA gene and thus the rrn operon on a single locus in the genome of the O. saccharovorans strains. However, similar genome architecture was not observed in other closely related bacterial strains. Additional survey also detected no plasmid-borne rrn operon in available genomes of validly described taxa of family Acetobacteraceae. To date, plasmid localization of rrn operon is rarely documented. This study reports the occurrence of rrn operon on the smallest bacterial plasmid in three O. saccharovorans strains and discusses its possible importance in enhancing their competitive fitness as bacterial symbiont of O. smaragdina.
Topics: Acetobacteraceae; Base Composition; Operon; Plasmids; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
PubMed: 33476637
DOI: 10.1016/j.plasmid.2021.102559 -
Bioengineered Dec 2021Bacterial cellulose (BC) is higher in demand due to its excellent properties which is attributed to its purity and nano size. is a model organism where BC production... (Review)
Review
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is higher in demand due to its excellent properties which is attributed to its purity and nano size. is a model organism where BC production has been studied in detail because of its higher cellulose production capacity. BC production mechanism shows involvement of a series of sequential reactions with enzymes for biosynthesis of cellulose. It is necessary to know the mechanism to understand the involvement of regulatory proteins which could be the probable targets for genetic modification to enhance or regulate yield of BC and to alter BC properties as well. For the industrial production of BC, controlled synthesis is desired so as to save energy, hence genetic manipulation opens up avenues for upregulating or controlling the cellulose synthesis in the bacterium by targeting genes involved in cellulose biosynthesis. In this review article genetic modification has been presented as a tool to introduce desired changes at genetic level resulting in improved yield or properties. There has been a lack of studies on genetic modification for BC production due to limited availability of information on whole genome and genetic toolkits; however, in last few years, the number of studies has been increased on this aspect as whole genome sequencing of several strains are being done. In this review article, we have presented the mechanisms and the targets for genetic modifications in order to achieve desired changes in the BC production titer as well as its characteristics.
Topics: Acetobacteraceae; Cellulose; Genetic Engineering; Nanostructures
PubMed: 34519629
DOI: 10.1080/21655979.2021.1968989 -
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Mar 2018Aerobic Acetobacter pasteurianus is one of the most widely used bacterial species for acetic acid and vinegar production. The acetic acid condition is the primary... (Review)
Review
Aerobic Acetobacter pasteurianus is one of the most widely used bacterial species for acetic acid and vinegar production. The acetic acid condition is the primary challenge to the industrial application of A. pasteurianus. Thus, numerous endeavors, including strain improvement and process control, have been performed to improve the product formation and acetic acid tolerance of A. pasteurianus. The metabolic features of A. pasteurianus have been gradually elucidated through omic techniques, such as genomics and proteomics. In this mini review, we summarized bioprocess engineering methods that improved product formation of A. pasteurianus by exploiting its metabolic features. Moreover, given that A. pasteurianus is an important functional microorganism in traditional vinegar production, we discuss its metabolism when cocultured with other microorganisms in traditional vinegar production.
Topics: Acetic Acid; Acetobacter; Aerobiosis; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Metabolic Engineering; Metabolic Networks and Pathways
PubMed: 29430583
DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-8819-6 -
ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering Jul 2021Microcapsules made of synthetic polymers are used for the release of cargo in agriculture, food, and cosmetics but are often difficult to be degraded in the environment....
Microcapsules made of synthetic polymers are used for the release of cargo in agriculture, food, and cosmetics but are often difficult to be degraded in the environment. To diminish the environmental impact of microcapsules, we use the biofilm-forming ability of bacteria to grow cellulose-based biodegradable microcapsules. The present work focuses on the design and optimization of self-grown bacterial cellulose capsules. In contrast to their conventionally attributed pathogenic role, bacteria and their self-secreted biofilms represent a multifunctional class of biomaterials. The bacterial strain used in this work, , is able to survive and proliferate in various environmental conditions by forming biofilms as part of its lifecycle. Cellulose is one of the main components present in these self-secreted protective layers and is known for its outstanding mechanical properties. Provided enough nutrients and oxygen, these bacteria and the produced cellulose are able to self-assemble at the interface of any given three-dimensional template and could be used as a novel stabilization concept for water-in-oil emulsions. Using a microfluidic setup for controlled emulsification, we demonstrate that bacterial cellulose capsules can be produced with tunable size and monodispersity. Furthermore, we show that successful droplet stabilization and bacterial cellulose formation are functions of the bacteria concentration, droplet size, and surfactant type. The obtained results represent the first milestone in the production of self-assembled biodegradable cellulose capsules to be used in a vast range of applications such as flavor, fragrance, agrochemicals, nutrients, and drug encapsulation.
Topics: Capsules; Cellulose; Emulsions; Gluconacetobacter xylinus; Polymers
PubMed: 34190548
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c00399 -
Nature Materials May 2021Biological systems assemble living materials that are autonomously patterned, can self-repair and can sense and respond to their environment. The field of engineered...
Biological systems assemble living materials that are autonomously patterned, can self-repair and can sense and respond to their environment. The field of engineered living materials aims to create novel materials with properties similar to those of natural biomaterials using genetically engineered organisms. Here, we describe an approach to fabricating functional bacterial cellulose-based living materials using a stable co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and bacterial cellulose-producing Komagataeibacter rhaeticus bacteria. Yeast strains can be engineered to secrete enzymes into bacterial cellulose, generating autonomously grown catalytic materials and enabling DNA-encoded modification of bacterial cellulose bulk properties. Alternatively, engineered yeast can be incorporated within the growing cellulose matrix, creating living materials that can sense and respond to chemical and optical stimuli. This symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast is a flexible platform for the production of bacterial cellulose-based engineered living materials with potential applications in biosensing and biocatalysis.
Topics: Acetobacteraceae; Cellulose; Coculture Techniques; Saccharomyces cerevisiae
PubMed: 33432140
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-00857-5 -
Microbial Biotechnology Jul 2019Bacterial cellulose is a strong and flexible biomaterial produced at high yields by Acetobacter species and has applications in health care, biotechnology and...
Bacterial cellulose is a strong and flexible biomaterial produced at high yields by Acetobacter species and has applications in health care, biotechnology and electronics. Naturally, bacterial cellulose grows as a large unstructured polymer network around the bacteria that produce it, and tools to enable these bacteria to respond to different locations are required to grow more complex structured materials. Here, we introduce engineered cell-to-cell communication into a bacterial cellulose-producing strain of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus to enable different cells to detect their proximity within growing material and trigger differential gene expression in response. Using synthetic biology tools, we engineer Sender and Receiver strains of K. rhaeticus to produce and respond to the diffusible signalling molecule, acyl-homoserine lactone. We demonstrate that communication can occur both within and between growing pellicles and use this in a boundary detection experiment, where spliced and joined pellicles sense and reveal their original boundary. This work sets the basis for synthetic cell-to-cell communication within bacterial cellulose and is an important step forward for pattern formation within engineered living materials.
Topics: Acetobacteraceae; Acyl-Butyrolactones; Biofilms; Cellulose; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Quorum Sensing
PubMed: 30461206
DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13340 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Dec 2014The honey bee hive environment contains a rich microbial community that differs according to niche. Acetobacteraceae Alpha 2.2 (Alpha 2.2) bacteria are present in the...
The honey bee hive environment contains a rich microbial community that differs according to niche. Acetobacteraceae Alpha 2.2 (Alpha 2.2) bacteria are present in the food stores, the forager crop, and larvae but at negligible levels in the nurse and forager midgut and hindgut. We first sought to determine the source of Alpha 2.2 in young larvae by assaying the diversity of microbes in nurse crops, hypopharyngeal glands (HGs), and royal jelly (RJ). Amplicon-based pyrosequencing showed that Alpha 2.2 bacteria occupy each of these environments along with a variety of other bacteria, including Lactobacillus kunkeei. RJ and the crop contained fewer bacteria than the HGs, suggesting that these tissues are rather selective environments. Phylogenetic analyses showed that honey bee-derived Alpha 2.2 bacteria are specific to bees that "nurse" the hive's developing brood with HG secretions and are distinct from the Saccharibacter-type bacteria found in bees that provision their young differently, such as with a pollen ball coated in crop-derived contents. Acetobacteraceae can form symbiotic relationships with insects, so we next tested whether Alpha 2.2 increased larval fitness. We cultured 44 Alpha 2.2 strains from young larvae that grouped into nine distinct clades. Three isolates from these nine clades flourished in royal jelly, and one isolate increased larval survival in vitro. We conclude that Alpha 2.2 bacteria are not gut bacteria but are prolific in the crop-HG-RJ-larva niche, passed to the developing brood through nurse worker feeding behavior. We propose the name Parasaccharibacter apium for this bacterial symbiont of bees in the genus Apis.
Topics: Acetobacteraceae; Animals; Bees; DNA, Bacterial; Larva; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Symbiosis
PubMed: 25239902
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02043-14 -
Soft Matter Dec 2019A facile and effective method is described to engineer original bacterial cellulose fibrous networks with tunable porosity. We showed that the pore shape, volume, and...
A facile and effective method is described to engineer original bacterial cellulose fibrous networks with tunable porosity. We showed that the pore shape, volume, and size distribution of bacterial nanocellulose membranes can be tailored under appropriate culture conditions specifically carbon sources. Pore characterization techniques such as capillary flow porometry, the bubble point method, and gas adsorption-desorption technique as well as visualization techniques such as scanning electron and atomic force microscopy were utilized to investigate the morphology and shape of the pores within the membranes. Engineering various shape, size and volume characteristics of the pores available in pristine bacterial nanocellulose membranes leads to fabrication and development of eco-friendly materials with required characteristics for a broad range of applications.
Topics: Acetobacteraceae; Bioengineering; Cellulose; Nanostructures; Porosity; Surface Tension
PubMed: 31697286
DOI: 10.1039/c9sm01895f -
Molekuliarnaia Biologiia 2015The Acetobacteraceae family of the class Alpha Proteobacteria is comprised of high sugar and acid tolerant bacteria. The Acetic Acid Bacteria are the economically most...
The Acetobacteraceae family of the class Alpha Proteobacteria is comprised of high sugar and acid tolerant bacteria. The Acetic Acid Bacteria are the economically most significant group of this family because of its association with food products like vinegar, wine etc. Acetobacteraceae are often hard to culture in laboratory conditions and they also maintain very low abundances in their natural habitats. Thus identification of the organisms in such environments is greatly dependent on modern tools of molecular biology which require a thorough knowledge of specific conserved gene sequences that may act as primers and or probes. Moreover unconserved domains in genes also become markers for differentiating closely related genera. In bacteria, the 16S rRNA gene is an ideal candidate for such conserved and variable domains. In order to study the conserved and variable domains of the 16S rRNA gene of Acetic Acid Bacteria and the Acetobacteraceae family, sequences from publicly available databases were aligned and compared. Near complete sequences of the gene were also obtained from Kombucha tea biofilm, a known Acetobacteraceae family habitat, in order to corroborate the domains obtained from the alignment studies. The study indicated that the degree of conservation in the gene is significantly higher among the Acetic Acid Bacteria than the whole Acetobacteraceae family. Moreover it was also observed that the previously described hypervariable regions V1, V3, V5, V6 and V7 were more or less conserved in the family and the spans of the variable regions are quite distinct as well.
Topics: Acetic Acid; Acetobacteraceae; Base Sequence; Chromosome Mapping; Conserved Sequence; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic Variation; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; RNA, Bacterial; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Sequence Alignment
PubMed: 26510592
DOI: 10.7868/S0026898415050055