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. 2021 Mar 30;12(2):e00047-21.
doi: 10.1128/mBio.00047-21.

A Pseudomonas aeruginosa Antimicrobial Affects the Biogeography but Not Fitness of Staphylococcus aureus during Coculture

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A Pseudomonas aeruginosa Antimicrobial Affects the Biogeography but Not Fitness of Staphylococcus aureus during Coculture

Juan P Barraza et al. mBio. .

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are two of the most common coinfecting bacteria in human infections, including the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung. There is emerging evidence that coinfection with these microbes enhances disease severity and antimicrobial tolerance through direct interactions. However, one of the challenges to studying microbial interactions relevant to human infection is the lack of experimental models with the versatility to investigate complex interaction dynamics while maintaining biological relevance. Here, we developed a model based on an in vitro medium that mimics human CF lung secretions (synthetic CF sputum medium [SCFM2]) and allows time-resolved assessment of fitness and community spatial structure at the micrometer scale. Our results reveal that P. aeruginosa and S. aureus coexist as spatially structured communities in SCFM2 under static growth conditions, with S. aureus enriched at a distance of 3.5 μm from P. aeruginosa Multispecies aggregates were rare, and aggregate (biofilm) sizes resembled those in human CF sputum. Elimination of P. aeruginosa's ability to produce the antistaphylococcal small molecule HQNO (2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide) had no effect on bacterial fitness but altered the spatial structure of the community by increasing the distance of S. aureus from P. aeruginosa to 7.6 μm. Lastly, we show that coculture with P. aeruginosa sensitizes S. aureus to killing by the antibiotic tobramycin compared to monoculture growth despite HQNO enhancing tolerance during coculture. Our findings reveal that SCFM2 is a powerful model for studying P. aeruginosa and S. aureus and that HQNO alters S. aureus biogeography and antibiotic susceptibility without affecting fitness.IMPORTANCE Many human infections result from the action of multispecies bacterial communities. Within these communities, bacteria have been proposed to directly interact via physical and chemical means, resulting in increased disease and antimicrobial tolerance. One of the challenges to studying multispecies infections is the lack of robust, infection-relevant model systems with the ability to study these interactions through time with micrometer-scale precision. Here, we developed a versatile in vitro model for studying the interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, two bacteria that commonly coexist in human infections. Using this model along with high-resolution, single-cell microscopy, we showed that P. aeruginosa and S. aureus form communities that are spatially structured at the micrometer scale, controlled in part by the production of an antimicrobial by P. aeruginosa In addition, we provide evidence that this antimicrobial enhances S. aureus tolerance to an aminoglycoside antibiotic only during coculture.

Keywords: HQNO; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; SCFM2; Staphylococcus aureus; biogeography; coculture; cystic fibrosis; model; model system; spatial structure.

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Figures

FIG 1
FIG 1
S. aureus and P. aeruginosa stably coexist in static SCFM2. Growth of P. aeruginosa PA14 and S. aureus LAC under (A) well-mixed and (B) static conditions in SCFM2 (n = 3). Black lines represent CFU in coculture, and the horizontal dark gray lines indicate growth yield after 16 h in monoculture. (C) Normalized zone of inhibition produced by P. aeruginosa supernatants spotted on filter discs on lawns of S. aureus. P. aeruginosa produced a larger zone of inhibition when grown well-mixed in SCFM2 than when grown statically in SCFM2 (n = 5, paired Student's t test, P = 1 × 10−3). (D) Aggregate and planktonic biomass of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in SCFM2 in mono- and coculture. S. aureus biomass primarily exists as aggregates in monoculture and as planktonic cells in coculture. Black bars represent monoculture, and gray bars represent coculture (n = 3, paired Student's t test, P = 0.02 for both comparisons). (E) Number of aggregates of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus within different aggregate size ranges in mono- and coculture. We quantified the number of aggregates in three size ranges: 5 μm3 to 10 μm3, 10 μm3 to 100 μm3, and larger than 100 μm3 and reported the percentage of total aggregates in each size range. A lower percentage of aggregates were observed in the 5- to 10-μm3 range during monoculture than during coculture (50% versus 80%) for S. aureus (n = 3, paired Student's t test, P = 0.05), and a correspondingly higher percentage of aggregates in the 10- to 100-μm3 range were observed in coculture than in monoculture (20% versus 47%) (paired Student's t test, P = 0.03). Black bars represent monoculture, and gray bars represent coculture. Error bars show standard deviations. (*, P < 0.05, paired Student's t test.).
FIG 2
FIG 2
Images of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in mono- and coculture in SCFM2. Representative confocal images of DsRed-expressing S. aureus LAC (red) in (A and B) monoculture, GFP-expressing P. aeruginosa PA14 (green) in monoculture (C and D), and S. aureus and P. aeruginosa in coculture (E and F). Images on the left (A, C, and E) show the entire imaging field of 270 μm by 270 μm by 40 μm. Images on the right (B, D, and F) show a close-up view of images on the left. Bars, 10 μm unless otherwise noted.
FIG 3
FIG 3
HQNO impacts S. aureus fitness in well-mixed but not static SCFM2 cocultures. Growth of P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL and S. aureus under (A) well-mixed and (B) static conditions in SCFM2 (n = 3). Black lines represent CFU over time in coculture, and the horizontal dark gray line indicates growth yield after 16 h in monoculture. (C) Zone of inhibition produced by P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL supernatants spotted on filter discs on lawns of S. aureus. P. aeruginosa produced a larger zone of inhibition when grown well-mixed in SCFM2 than in static SCFM2 (n = 5, paired Student's t test, P = 0.012) but not as large as wild-type P. aeruginosa (P = 0.023; Fig. 1C). (D) Aggregate and planktonic biomass of P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL and S. aureus in SCFM2 mono- and coculture. Similar to coculture with wild-type P. aeruginosa, S. aureus biomass primarily exists as aggregates in monoculture and as planktonic cells in coculture (paired Student's t test, P = 0.02). P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL monoculture biomass was also found to be more present as aggregates than as planktonic cells (paired Student's t test, P = 0.02). (E) Number of aggregates of P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL and S. aureus within different aggregate size ranges in mono- and coculture. We quantified the number of aggregates in three size ranges (5 to 10 μm3, 10 to 100 μm3, and larger than 100 μm3) and reported the percentage of total aggregates in each size range. Fewer aggregates were observed in the 5- to 10-μm3 range during monoculture than in coculture for S. aureus (n = 3, paired Student's t test, P = 0.08), and a corresponding higher percentage of aggregates in the 10- to 100-μm3 range were observed in the monoculture than in coculture (n = 3, paired Student's t test, P = 0.08). Error bars show standard deviations (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.1 [paired Student's t test]).
FIG 4
FIG 4
Images of P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL in mono- and coculture with S. aureus in SCFM2. Representative confocal images of GFP-expressing P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL PA14 (green) in (A and B) monoculture and (C and D) coculture with DsRed-expressing S. aureus LAC (red). Images on the left (A and C) show the entire imaging field of 270 μm by 270 μm by 40 μm. Images on the right (B and D) show a close-up view of images on the left. Bars, 10 μm unless otherwise noted.
FIG 5
FIG 5
HQNO impacts the spatial organization of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus communities. (A) Percent mixed-species aggregates of S. aureus with P. aeruginosa wild-type (wt) and ΔpqsL during static growth in SCFM2. (B) Enrichment distance calculated using S. aureus as both the focal species and target species, indicating that S. aureus is most often found tightly associated with other S. aureus cells. (C) Enrichment distance calculated using S. aureus as the focal species and P. aeruginosa as the target species. S. aureus was localized closer to wild-type P. aeruginosa than P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL (paired Student's t test, P = 0.01). Error bars show standard deviations.
FIG 6
FIG 6
HQNO enhances S. aureus survival to tobramycin during coculture. S. aureus was grown in SCFM2 under three conditions: monoculture, coculture with P. aeruginosa, and coculture with P. aeruginosa ΔpqsL. Cultures were then treated with tobramycin (256 μg/ml) or water (control), and the number of S. aureus CFU was determined. (n = 12; *, P < 0.05 by the Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by a post hoc paired Wilcoxon test). Error bars indicate standard deviations.

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