Scope of the Thesis
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Unraveling predatory-prey interactions between bacteria Dissertation To Fulfill the Requirements for the Degree of „Doctor rerum naturalium“ (Dr. rer. nat.) Submitted to the Council of the Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena By Ivana Seccareccia (M.Sc. in Biology) born on 8th April 1986 in Rijeka, Croatia Die Forschungsarbeit im Rahmen dieser Dissertation wurde am Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e.V. – Hans-Knöll–Institut in der Nachwuchsgruppe Sekundärmetabolismus räuberischer Bakterien unter der Betreuung von Dr. habil. Markus Nett von Oktober 2011 bis Oktober 2015 in Jena durchgeführt. Gutachter: ……………………………………………. ………………………………………….… ……………………………………………. Tag der öffentlichen Verteidigung: We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers. Carl Sagan Table of Contents 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Predation in the microbial community ........................................................................... 6 1.2 Bacterial predators .......................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Phases of predation ......................................................................................................... 8 1.3.1 Seeking prey ......................................................................................................... 9 1.3.2 Prey recognition ................................................................................................. 10 1.3.3 Prey killing and consumption ............................................................................. 10 1.4 Bacterial defense against predators .............................................................................. 11 1.4.1 Production of secondary metabolites ................................................................. 11 1.4.2 Morphological adaptations, multicellular structures and high motility ............. 12 1.4.3 Induction of bacterial defense mechanisms ....................................................... 13 1.5 Predation strategies ....................................................................................................... 13 1.5.1 Individual predation ........................................................................................... 14 1.5.2 Group predation .................................................................................................. 14 1.6 The genus Lysobacter ................................................................................................... 15 1.6.1 Predatory behavior of Lysobacter spp. ............................................................... 15 1.7 The genus Cupriavidus ................................................................................................. 16 1.7.1 Predatory behavior of Cupriavidus necator N-1 ................................................ 17 2 Scope of the thesis ............................................................................................................ 19 3 Overview of Manuscripts .................................................................................................. 20 3.1 Manuscripts resulting from the main research project ................................................. 20 3.1.1 Manuscript A ...................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2 Manuscript B ...................................................................................................... 20 3.1.3 Manuscript C ...................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Manuscripts from side projects .................................................................................... 21 3.2.1 Manuscript D ...................................................................................................... 21 3.2.2 Manuscript E ...................................................................................................... 22 4 Published Results .............................................................................................................. 23 4.1 Manuscript A: Quantitative analysis of Lysobacter predation ..................................... 23 4.2 Manuscript B: Unraveling the predator-prey relationship of Cupriavidus necator and Bacillus subtilis ..................................................................................................................... 41 4.3 Manuscript C: Identification of new metallothioneins in the bacterium Cupriavidus necator N-1. .......................................................................................................................... 68 5 Unpublished Results ......................................................................................................... 93 5.1 Evaluation of predatory potential in Cupriavidus spp. ................................................. 93 5.2 Antimicrobial activity of recombinant peptides from C. necator N-1 ......................... 97 6 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 99 6.1 Analysis of bacterial predation in the laboratory ......................................................... 99 6.2 Comparative analysis of predation behavior among bacteria ..................................... 101 6.2.1 Bacterial predation efficiency across different assays ..................................... 102 6.2.2 Predator-prey ratio and cell contact ................................................................. 104 6.3 Secondary metabolites of C. necator .......................................................................... 105 6.4 Prey-specific factors that influence predation ............................................................ 106 6.5 Distinguishing predation from competition ................................................................ 107 7 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 109 8 Zusammenfassung ........................................................................................................... 111 9 Manuscripts from side projects ....................................................................................... 113 9.1 Manuscript D: Micromonospora schwarzwaldensis sp. nov., a producer of telomycin, isolated from soil. ............................................................................................................... 113 9.2 Manuscript E: Variochelins, lipopeptide siderophores from Variovorax boronicumulans discovered by genome mining. ................................................................ 131 10 List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... 174 11 References .................................................................................................................. 175 12 Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................... 182 13 Eigenständigkeitserklärung ........................................................................................ 184 14 Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................ 185 Introduction 1 Introduction 1.1 Predation in the microbial community Microorganisms are living in dynamic and complex communities, communicating and interacting with each other. Microbial interactions can be neutral, beneficial or harmful for the partners involved. Although extensive research is conducted in the field of microbial relationships, it was focused only on few of many different modes of interactions described [1]. When it comes to predation among bacteria, our knowledge is limited and many questions remain to be answered. Predation is considered an important force that shapes microbial communities [2] by simultaneously enforcing selection escape strategies in prey and killing efficiency of predators [3, 4]. Additionally, the ecological role of predators is reflected on the determination of the structure and dynamics in the microbial community. Predation can maintain diversity in the community, as abundant species are statistically more likely to be attacked by predators [5, 6]. Predation is a significant force in trophic interactions between microorganisms that promotes primary production of organic compounds through the process of photosynthesis and chemosynthesis [7]. In aquatic environments, predation pressure leads to more efficient nutrient regeneration and cycling of organic compounds and other nutrients in particular nitrogen and phosphorus [8, 9]. Additionally, predators facilitate release of photosynthetically fixed organic carbon by preying on phytoplankton [10]. Despite the fact that the highest predation pressure comes from microfaunal predators consisting of bacteriovorous protozoa and nematodes [10] bacterial predators have an important role in the microbial food chain, and thus are in the focus of this study. Because of their production of extracellular lytic enzymes, predatory bacteria were already used as biocontrol agents to prevent cyanobacterial blooms in lakes, e.g. Bdellovibrio-like bacteria [11] and Myxococcus sp. [12, 13]. Additionally, the powerful lytic