Multi-drug resistant bacterial infections are a serious threat to global public health. Changes in treatment modalities and prudent use of antibiotics can assist in reducing the threat, but new approaches are also required for untreatable cases. The use of predatory bacteria, such as Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, is among the novel approaches being considered as possible therapeutics for antibiotic resistant and/or unidentified bacterial infections. Previous studies have examined the feasibility of using predatory bacteria to reduce colony-forming units (CFUs) in the lungs of rats exposed to lethal doses of Klebsiella pneumoniae; here we apply the approach to the Tier 1 select agent Yersinia pestis, and show that three doses of B. bacteriovorus introduced every six hours reduces the number of CFUs of Y. pestis in the lungs of inoculated mice by 86% after 24 h of infection. These experiments further demonstrate that predatory bacteria may serve to combat Gram negative bacterial infections, including those considered potential bioweapon agents, in the future.

Microbial biofilms are ubiquitous in drinking water systems, yet our understanding of drinking water biofilms lags behind our understanding of those in other environments. Here, a six-member model bacterial community was used to identify the interactions and individual contributions of each species to community biofilm formation. These bacteria were isolated from the International Space Station potable water system and include Cupriavidus metallidurans , Chryseobacterium gleum , Ralstonia insidiosa, Ralstonia pickettii, Methylorubrum (Methylobacterium) populi and Sphingomonas paucimobilis , but all six species are common members of terrestrial potable water systems. Using reconstituted assemblages, from pairs to all 6 members, community biofilm formation was observed to be robust to the absence of any single species and only removal of the C. gleum / S. paucimobilis pair, out of all 15 possible 2-species subtractions, led to loss of community biofilm formation. In conjunction with these findings, dual-species biofilm formation assays supported the view that the contribution of C. gleum to community biofilm formation was dependent on synergistic biofilm formation with either R. insidiosa or C. metallidurans . These data support a model of multiple, partially redundant species interactions to generate robustness in biofilm formation. A bacteriophage and multiple predatory bacteria were used to test the resilience of the community to the removal of individual members in situ, but the combination of precise and substantial depletion of a single target species was not achievable. We propose that this assemblage can be used as a tractable model to understand the molecular bases of the interactions described here and to decipher other functions of drinking water biofilms.

Micavibrio aeruginosavorus is an obligate Gram-negative predatory bacterial species that feeds on other Gram-negative bacteria by attaching to the surface of its prey and feeding on the prey’s cellular contents. In this study, Serratia marcescens with defined mutations in genes for extracellular cell structural components and secreted factors were used in predation experiments to identify structures that influence predation. No change was measured in the ability of the predator to prey on S. marcescens flagella, fimbria, surface layer, prodigiosin and phospholipase-A mutants. However, higher predation was measured on S. marcescens metalloprotease mutants. Complementation of the metalloprotease gene, prtS, into the protease mutant, as well as exogenous addition of purified serralysin metalloprotease, restored predation to wild type levels. Addition of purified serralysin also reduced the ability of M. aeruginosavorus to prey on Escherichia coli. Incubating M. aeruginosavorus with purified metalloprotease was found to not impact predator viability; however, pre-incubating prey, but not the predator, with purified metalloprotease was able to block predation. Finally, using flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy, we were able to confirm that the ability of the predator to bind to the metalloprotease mutant was higher than that of the metalloprotease producing wild-type. The work presented in this study shows that metalloproteases from S. marcescens could offer elevated protection from predation.

It was previously demonstrated that predatory bacteria are able to efficiently eliminate Gram-negative pathogens including antibiotic-resistant and biofilm-associated bacteria. In this proof-of-concept study we evaluated whether two species of predatory bacteria, Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Micavibrio aeruginosavorus, were able to alter the survival of Gram-negative pathogens on the ocular surface. Clinical keratitis isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (strain PAC) and Serratia marcescens (strain K904) were applied to the ocular surface of NZW rabbits followed by application of predatory bacteria. At time intervals, surviving pathogenic bacteria were enumerated. In addition, B. bacteriovorus and S. marcescens were applied to porcine organ culture corneas under contact lenses, and the ocular surface was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The ocular surface epithelial layer of porcine corneas exposed to S. marcescens, but not B. bacteriovorus was damaged. Using this model, neither pathogen could survive on the rabbit ocular surface for longer than 24 h. M. aeruginosavorus correlated with a more rapid clearance of P. aeruginosa but not S. marcescens from rabbit eyes. This study supports previous evidence that predatory bacteria are well tolerated by the cornea, but suggest that predatory bacteria do not considerably change the ability of the ocular surface to clear the tested Gram-negative bacterial pathogens from the ocular surface.

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