MICRO-C-OMICS #17: Circumstances Affect Microbial Interactions

Sometimes circumstances force different groups of microorganisms to cooperate, as shown by the study published by Finkelshtein et al. (2015). They observed that the nature of interaction between two bacterial species, Paenibacillus vortex and Escherichia coli, changed by the presence and absence of antibiotic in the environment. P. vortex, when alone in an antibiotic- free environment, grew and colonized a large area whereas in the presence of antibiotic P. vortex could not survive. When alone, the antibiotic resistant strain of E.coli could grow but not spread whether there is antibiotic or not. When P.vortex and E.coli were grown together in the presence of antibiotic they colonized a larger area. What happened was that the antibiotic resistant E.coli detoxed the environment and P.vortex, taking the advantage of it, could spread. What’s in it for E. coli? E.coli benefited . from the transportation by P. vortex to reach new areas. But this was a friendship of desperate times only, at least for P.vortex. When they are together in an antibiotic-free environment, P.vortex did not bother to transport E.coli much further as the services were no longer needed. Ref: Finkelshtein et al. (2015) Bacterial swarms recruit cargo bacteria to pave the way in toxic environments, mBio May 2015, 6 (3) e00074-15

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