Resistance Responses in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 in Response to Surface Predation by Myxococcus xanthus DK1622

<p>Micropredators are a significant selective force driving the evolution of bacteria including human pathogens. Virulence factors and antibiotic resistance may have originated as a stress response mechanism for avoiding predators. <em>Myxococcus xanthus</em> is a micropredator for a wide variety of bacteria including clinically relevant human pathogens. We have tested the predatory ability of a laboratory reference strain of <em>M. xanthus </em>DK1622 against <em>P. aeruginosa </em>strain PAO1. We have found that live cells persist despite predation. The present study employs multi-sample time-lapse confocal microscopy to provide a clearer picture of this unique resistance response. Mixed cell assays showed statistically significant rejection of live prey and an increase in dead prey at the cellular level. Timelapse videos showed that ripple formation is inhibited at 48 hours. “Fold” deficient <em>P. aeruginosa</em> PAO1 strains clarified that <em>M. xanthus</em> is responsible for the appearance of the fold by showing complete blockage of <em>M. xanthus </em>motility after 48hr. Z-stacks revealed <em>P. aeruginosa</em> PAO1, and subtypes impede <em>M. xanthus</em> motility and form layers of <em>M. xanthus </em>atop <em>P. aeruginosa</em> PAO1 with smaller waves embedded in the prey spot at the site of the “fold”.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Wilson, Sarah Joie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Ramya Rajagopalan
• Dr. Anton Bryantsev
• Dr. Melanie Griffin

• Myxococcus xanthus
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Micropredation
• Confocal Microscopy
• Fluorescence Microscopy
• Biology
• Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology
• Integrative Biology
• Microbiology
• Other Microbiology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/107

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu:integrbiol_etd-1110