Quorum sensing by N-acylhomoserine lactones is not required for Aeromonas hydrophila during growth with organic particles in lake water microcosms
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Melanie Hempel; Katharina Styp von Rekowski; Bodo Philipp
- Source
- Archives of microbiology. 189(5)
- Subject
- oligotrophic lakes
Colony Count, Microbial
Acyl-Butyrolactones
Cytophaga
Biochemistry
Microbiology
biofilm
Algae
Microbial ecology
ddc:570
Genetics
Molecular Biology
biology
Sepharose
Biofilm
quorum sensing
food and beverages
Quorum Sensing
Heterotrophic Processes
General Medicine
biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition
biology.organism_classification
N-Acylhomoserine lactones
Aeromonas hydrophila
Quorum sensing
Aeromonas
Biofilms
Microcosm
Water Microbiology
Bacteria
Scenedesmus
- Language
- ISSN
- 0302-8933
It was investigated whether quorum sensing (QS) mediated by N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) was important for heterotrophic bacteria from the littoral zone of the oligotrophic Lake Constance for growth with organic particles. More than 900 colonies from lake water microcosms with artificial organic aggregates consisting of autoclaved unicellular algae embedded in agarose beads were screened for AHL-production. AHL-producing bacteria of the genus Aeromonas enriched in the microcosms but AHLs could not be detected in any microcosm. To test for a potential function of AHL-mediated QS, growth experiments with the wild type and an AHL-deficient mutant of Aeromonas hydrophila in lake water microcosms were performed. Growth of both strains did not differ in single cultures and showed no mutual influence in co-cultures. In co-cultures with a competitor bacterium belonging to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium group, growth of both A. hydrophila strains was reduced while growth of the competitor bacterium was not affected. Exogenous AHL-addition did not influence growth of the Aeromonas strains in any microcosm experiment. These results showed that AHL-mediated QS was not required for A. hydrophila during colonization and degradation of organic particles in lake water microcosms, suggesting that cell-cell signalling of heterotrophic bacteria in oligotrophic waters relies on novel signal molecules.