Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms
Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus are predatory bacteria that burrow into prey bacteria and degrade their cell contents, including DNA and RNA, to grow. Their genome encodes diverse nucleases, some with potential export sequences. Transcriptomic analysis determined two candidate-predicted nuclease genes (b...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Wiley
2013
|
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/3104/ |
| _version_ | 1848790954879746048 |
|---|---|
| author | Lambert, Carey Sockett, R. Elizabeth |
| author_facet | Lambert, Carey Sockett, R. Elizabeth |
| author_sort | Lambert, Carey |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus are predatory bacteria that burrow into prey bacteria and degrade their cell contents, including DNA and RNA, to grow. Their genome encodes diverse nucleases, some with potential export sequences. Transcriptomic analysis determined two candidate-predicted nuclease genes (bd1244, bd1934) upregulated upon contact with prey, which we hypothesised, may be involved in prey nucleic acid degradation. RT-PCR on total RNA from across the predatory cycle confirmed that the transcription of these genes peaks shortly after prey cell invasion, around the time that prey DNA is being degraded. We deleted bd1244 and bd1934 both singly and together and investigated their role in predation of prey cells and biofilms. Surprisingly, we found that the nuclease-mutant strains could still prey upon planktonic bacteria as efficiently as wild type and still degraded the prey genomic DNA. The Bdellovibrio nuclease mutants were less efficient at (self-) biofilm formation, and surprisingly, they showed enhanced predatory clearance of preformed prey cell biofilms relative to wild-type Bdellovibrio. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:20:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-3104 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:20:50Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-31042020-05-04T20:19:33Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/3104/ Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms Lambert, Carey Sockett, R. Elizabeth Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus are predatory bacteria that burrow into prey bacteria and degrade their cell contents, including DNA and RNA, to grow. Their genome encodes diverse nucleases, some with potential export sequences. Transcriptomic analysis determined two candidate-predicted nuclease genes (bd1244, bd1934) upregulated upon contact with prey, which we hypothesised, may be involved in prey nucleic acid degradation. RT-PCR on total RNA from across the predatory cycle confirmed that the transcription of these genes peaks shortly after prey cell invasion, around the time that prey DNA is being degraded. We deleted bd1244 and bd1934 both singly and together and investigated their role in predation of prey cells and biofilms. Surprisingly, we found that the nuclease-mutant strains could still prey upon planktonic bacteria as efficiently as wild type and still degraded the prey genomic DNA. The Bdellovibrio nuclease mutants were less efficient at (self-) biofilm formation, and surprisingly, they showed enhanced predatory clearance of preformed prey cell biofilms relative to wild-type Bdellovibrio. Wiley 2013-03 Article PeerReviewed Lambert, Carey and Sockett, R. Elizabeth (2013) Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 340 (2). pp. 109-116. ISSN 0378-1097 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1574-6968.12075/full doi:10.1111/1574-6968.12075 doi:10.1111/1574-6968.12075 |
| spellingShingle | Lambert, Carey Sockett, R. Elizabeth Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| title | Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| title_full | Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| title_fullStr | Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| title_short | Nucleases in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| title_sort | nucleases in bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute towards efficient self-biofilm formation and eradication of preformed prey biofilms |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/3104/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/3104/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/3104/ |