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Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms

Biofilms are a matrix-associated lifestyle of microbial communities, often enabling survivability and persistence of such bacteria. The objective of this study was to investigate the survival of the wild-type strain A-271 of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica (Fth) in a natural aquatic ex vivo...

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Autores principales: Schaudinn, Christoph, Rydzewski, Kerstin, Meister, Beate, Grunow, Roland, Heuner, Klaus
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9969146/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36860486
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1113412
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author Schaudinn, Christoph
Rydzewski, Kerstin
Meister, Beate
Grunow, Roland
Heuner, Klaus
author_facet Schaudinn, Christoph
Rydzewski, Kerstin
Meister, Beate
Grunow, Roland
Heuner, Klaus
author_sort Schaudinn, Christoph
collection PubMed
description Biofilms are a matrix-associated lifestyle of microbial communities, often enabling survivability and persistence of such bacteria. The objective of this study was to investigate the survival of the wild-type strain A-271 of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica (Fth) in a natural aquatic ex vivo biofilm. To that purpose, we allowed Fth A-271 to produce its own biofilm on solid surfaces but also to colonize naturally formed biofilms from aquatic habitats, which were infected with Francisella in the laboratory. The survival rates of the bacteria in biofilms were compared to those of planktonic bacteria as a function of the employed culture condition. It could be shown by light- and electron microscopy that Fth is able to form a complex, matrix-associated biofilm. The biofilm form of Francisella showed longer cultivability on agar plates in natural water when compared to planktonic (free-living) bacteria. Be it as a part of the existing ex vivo biofilm or free-floating above as planktonic bacteria, more than 80% of Francisella were not only able to survive under these conditions for 28 days, but even managed to establish microcolonies and areas with their own exclusive biofilm architecture within the ex vivo biofilm. Here, we can demonstrate for the first time that a Francisella tularensis wild-type strain (Type B) is able to successfully colonize an aquatic multi-species ex vivo biofilm. It is worthwhile to speculate that Fth might become more persistent in the environment when it forms its own biofilm or integrates in an existing one. Multi-species biofilms have been shown to be more resistant against stress compared to single-species biofilms. This may have an important impact on the long-term survival of Francisella in aquatic habitats and infection cycles in nature.
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spelling pubmed-99691462023-02-28 Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms Schaudinn, Christoph Rydzewski, Kerstin Meister, Beate Grunow, Roland Heuner, Klaus Front Microbiol Microbiology Biofilms are a matrix-associated lifestyle of microbial communities, often enabling survivability and persistence of such bacteria. The objective of this study was to investigate the survival of the wild-type strain A-271 of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica (Fth) in a natural aquatic ex vivo biofilm. To that purpose, we allowed Fth A-271 to produce its own biofilm on solid surfaces but also to colonize naturally formed biofilms from aquatic habitats, which were infected with Francisella in the laboratory. The survival rates of the bacteria in biofilms were compared to those of planktonic bacteria as a function of the employed culture condition. It could be shown by light- and electron microscopy that Fth is able to form a complex, matrix-associated biofilm. The biofilm form of Francisella showed longer cultivability on agar plates in natural water when compared to planktonic (free-living) bacteria. Be it as a part of the existing ex vivo biofilm or free-floating above as planktonic bacteria, more than 80% of Francisella were not only able to survive under these conditions for 28 days, but even managed to establish microcolonies and areas with their own exclusive biofilm architecture within the ex vivo biofilm. Here, we can demonstrate for the first time that a Francisella tularensis wild-type strain (Type B) is able to successfully colonize an aquatic multi-species ex vivo biofilm. It is worthwhile to speculate that Fth might become more persistent in the environment when it forms its own biofilm or integrates in an existing one. Multi-species biofilms have been shown to be more resistant against stress compared to single-species biofilms. This may have an important impact on the long-term survival of Francisella in aquatic habitats and infection cycles in nature. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9969146/ /pubmed/36860486 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1113412 Text en Copyright © 2023 Schaudinn, Rydzewski, Meister, Grunow and Heuner. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Schaudinn, Christoph
Rydzewski, Kerstin
Meister, Beate
Grunow, Roland
Heuner, Klaus
Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
title Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
title_full Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
title_fullStr Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
title_full_unstemmed Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
title_short Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
title_sort francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica wild-type is able to colonize natural aquatic ex vivo biofilms
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9969146/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36860486
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1113412
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