Title

Periodically disturbing biofilms reduces expression of quorum sensing-regulated virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Authors

Laura Garcia-Dieguez, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Gabriela Diaz-Tang, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Estefania Marin Meneses, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Vanessa Cruise, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Ivana M. Barraza, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Travis J.A. Craddock, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Robert P. Smith, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-16-2023

Publication Title

iScience

ISSN

2589-0042

Volume

26

Issue/No.

6

First Page

106843

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses quorum sensing to regulate the expression of virulence factors. In static environments, spatial structures, such as biofilms, can increase the expression of these virulence factors. However, in natural settings, biofilms are exposed to physical forces that disrupt spatial structure, which may affect the expression of virulence factors regulated by quorum sensing. We show that periodically disturbing biofilms composed of P. aeruginosa using a physical force reduces the expression of quorum sensing-regulated virulence factors. At an intermediate disturbance frequency, the expression of virulence factors in the las, rhl, and pqs regulons is reduced. Mathematical modeling suggests that perturbation of the pqsR receptor is critical for this reduction. Removing the lasR receptor enhances the reduction in the expression of virulence factors as a result of disturbance. Our results allow identification of environments where virulence is reduced and implicate the lasR receptor as having a buffering role against disturbance.

Comments

© 2023 The Author(s).

Funding: Research was sponsored by the Army Research Office and was accomplished under Grant Number W911NF-18-1-0443. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Office or the U.S. Government

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

NSUWorks Citation

Garcia-Dieguez, Laura; Gabriela Diaz-Tang; Estefania Marin Meneses; Vanessa Cruise; Ivana M. Barraza; Travis J.A. Craddock; and Robert P. Smith. 2023. "Periodically disturbing biofilms reduces expression of quorum sensing-regulated virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa." iScience 26, (6): 106843. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106843.

ORCID ID

0000-0003-4535-0138, 0000-0002-4785-9184

DOI

10.1016/j.isci.2023.106843