Interspecies quorum sensing signals Vibrio cholerae to modulate its multicellular organization and enhance contact-dependent antagonism

Interspecies quorum sensing signals Vibrio cholerae to modulate its multicellular organization and enhance contact-dependent antagonism | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Interspecies quorum sensing signals Vibrio cholerae to modulate its multicellular organization and enhance contact-dependent antagonism Brian Ho, Mollie Virgo, Hannah Painter, Harry-Luke McClelland, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7348157/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Spatial organization within bacterial communities plays a critical role in mediating cell-cell interactions and determining microbial fitness. During infection, Vibrio cholerae undergoes dynamic restructuring of its spatial organization, forming monospecific aggregates thought to enhance survival in the face of the host immune system. However, the effectiveness of its primary weapon against other bacteria—its contact-dependent type VI secretion system (T6SS)—is severely limited in this aggregated form, hampering its ability to compete for space and resources. Here, we show that the presence of competing, co-resident bacteria alter V. cholerae aggregation by modulating toxin co-regulated pilus (TCP) expression through production of interspecies quorum sensing signal autoinducer-2 (AI-2). Using a zebrafish infection model, we found that this quorum sensing-controlled disaggregation enhances the efficacy of T6SS-mediated killing in vivo by promoting intermixing of V. cholerae , thereby increasing cell-cell contact with competitors. This modulation of aggregation has no impact on T6SS activity in vitro , highlighting the context-specific nature of these interactions. We developed a mathematical model to explore these dynamics and observed a fundamental trade-off between potency of V. cholerae T6SS and its sensitivity to the presence of competing bacterial species. Our findings reveal a core mechanism underlying V. cholerae colonization wherein it uses quorum sensing to dynamically balance between protective aggregation to survive host defenses and dispersed infiltrative intermixing to facilitate elimination of competitors. Biological sciences/Microbiology/Pathogens Biological sciences/Microbiology/Microbial communities Biological sciences/Microbiology/Bacteria/Cellular microbiology Biological sciences/Microbiology/Bacteria/Bacterial pathogenesis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementalfileS1.pdf Supplemental File S1 Video1VcRedVcGreen.mov Video 1 Video7.EcGreendLuxSVcRed.mov Video 7 Video3TCPRedTCPGreen.mov Video 3 Video2VcRedVcGreenEc.mov Video 2 Video5WTredTCPgreen.mov Video 5 Video6EcGreenWTVcRed.mov Video 6 Video4TCPredWTgreen.mov Video 4 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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