Competition sensing: the social side of bacterial stress responses

Cornforth, Daniel M.; Foster, Kevin R.

doi:10.1038/nrmicro2977

Cited by 372 publications

(465 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

453

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Strain-strain interactions can have a significant role in bacterial disease dynamics via competition in both within-host and outside-host environments [54][55][56][57][58], and the surrounding microbial community has been shown to have significant effects on the evolution of interference [59,60]. However, how interference competition is associated with intensive farming is not properly understood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive aquaculture selects for increased virulence and interference competition in bacteria

Sundberg¹,

Ketola²,

Laanto³

et al. 2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although increased disease severity driven by intensive farming practices is problematic in food production, the role of evolutionary change in disease is not well understood in these environments. Experiments on parasite evolution are traditionally conducted using laboratory models, often unrelated to economically important systems. We compared how the virulence, growth and competitive ability of a globally important fish pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare, change under intensive aquaculture. We characterized bacterial isolates from disease outbreaks at fish farms during 2003-2010, and compared F. columnare populations in inlet water and outlet water of a fish farm during the 2010 outbreak. Our data suggest that the farming environment may select for bacterial strains that have high virulence at both long and short time scales, and it seems that these strains have also evolved increased ability for interference competition. Our results are consistent with the suggestion that selection pressures at fish farms can cause rapid changes in pathogen populations, which are likely to have long-lasting evolutionary effects on pathogen virulence. A better understanding of these evolutionary effects will be vital in prevention and control of disease outbreaks to secure food production.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive aquaculture selects for increased virulence and interference competition in bacteria

Sundberg¹,

Ketola²,

Laanto³

et al. 2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Bacteria sense a significant amount of environmental information directly (27), but some environmental dimensions require indirect, signal-mediated sensing mechanisms. When multiple molecules are secreted and differentially affected by the environment, the information a bacterium can acquire about its social and physical environment can be greatly increased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial quorum sensing allows bacteria to resolve their social and physical environment

Cornforth

Popat

McNally

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

168

173

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-cell communication system that controls gene expression in many bacterial species, mediated by diffusible signal molecules. Although the intracellular regulatory mechanisms of QS are often well-understood, the functional roles of QS remain controversial. In particular, the use of multiple signals by many bacterial species poses a serious challenge to current functional theories. Here, we address this challenge by showing that bacteria can use multiple QS signals to infer both their social (density) and physical (mass-transfer) environment. Analytical and evolutionary simulation models show that the detection of, and response to, complex social/physical contrasts requires multiple signals with distinct half-lives and combinatorial (nonadditive) responses to signal concentrations. We test these predictions using the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and demonstrate significant differences in signal decay between its two primary signal molecules, as well as diverse combinatorial responses to dual-signal inputs. QS is associated with the control of secreted factors, and we show that secretome genes are preferentially controlled by synergistic "AND-gate" responses to multiple signal inputs, ensuring the effective expression of secreted factors in high-density and low mass-transfer environments. Our results support a new functional hypothesis for the use of multiple signals and, more generally, show that bacteria are capable of combinatorial communication.diffusion sensing | bacterial signaling | efficiency sensing | collective behavior | bacterial cooperation

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, it is clear that the complex competitive environment within the host can favour different strategies in different host individuals: the competitive strategy that is successful in one host may depend on the presence of a specific competitor, and may be costly in the next host due to absence of that competitor. One result of this complex selective landscape is that parasites can evolve adaptive plastic responses to deal with the varied competitive environments encountered within hosts [23,24]. Host populations can, however, support many parasite species, and considerable genetic diversity within a given parasite species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Within-host competitive interactions as a mechanism for the maintenance of parasite diversity

Bashey

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Variation among parasite strains can affect the progression of disease or the effectiveness of treatment. What maintains parasite diversity? Here I argue that competition among parasites within the host is a major cause of variation among parasites. The competitive environment within the host can vary depending on the parasite genotypes present. For example, parasite strategies that target specific competitors, such as bacteriocins, are dependent on the presence and susceptibility of those competitors for success. Accordingly, which parasite traits are favoured by within-host selection can vary from host to host. Given the fluctuating fitness landscape across hosts, genotype by genotype (G×G) interactions among parasites should be prevalent. Moreover, selection should vary in a frequency-dependent manner, as attacking genotypes select for resistance and genotypes producing public goods select for cheaters. I review competitive coexistence theory with regard to parasites and highlight a few key examples where within-host competition promotes diversity. Finally, I discuss how within-host competition affects host health and our ability to successfully treat infectious diseases.

show abstract

Competition sensing: the social side of bacterial stress responses

Cited by 372 publications

References 67 publications

Intensive aquaculture selects for increased virulence and interference competition in bacteria

Intensive aquaculture selects for increased virulence and interference competition in bacteria

Combinatorial quorum sensing allows bacteria to resolve their social and physical environment

Within-host competitive interactions as a mechanism for the maintenance of parasite diversity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About