1887

Abstract

A protocol was developed to study the dynamics of growth and plasmid transfer in surface populations of bacteria. This method allows for quantitative estimates of cell population densities over time, as well as microscopic observations of colony growth and interactions. Using this ‘surface slide system’(SSS), the dynamics of the plasmid R1 and its permanently derepressed mutant 19 in surface cultures of K12 was examined. In surface culture, the stationary-phase cell densities were constant over a wide range of initial cell density (= colony density) and comparable to those obtained in liquid culture. For high initial cell densities, where the cells formed a confluent layer at stationary phase, the kinetics of growth and plasmid transfer was similar to that obtained in liquid culture, and the relative yields of R119 and R1 transconjugants were similar in the two habitats. In surface culture, however, R119 transconjugant yield was profoundly affected, and R1 transfer to a lesser extent, by colony density. In contrast, liquid matings were virtually unaffected by initial cell density. The transfer advantage of the permanently derepressed over the repressed plasmid was much less apparent for lower colony densities. I propose a hypothesis for plasmid transfer between colonies that explains these observations as a consequence of the geometry of the surface habitat and the effect of transitory derepression of the synthesis of pili.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-136-6-1001
1990-06-01
2024-10-06
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/136/6/mic-136-6-1001.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-136-6-1001&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Anderson E.S. 1968; The ecology of transferable drug resistance in the enterobacteria. Annual Review of Microbiology 22:131–180
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bradley D.E., Taylor D.E., Cohen D.R. 1980; Specification of surface mating systems among conjugative drug resistance plasmids in Escherichia coli K-12. Journal of Bacteriology 143:1466–1470
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Brock T.D. 1971; Microbial growth rates in nature. Bacteriological Reviews 35:39–58
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Caldwell D.E., Brannan D.K., Morris M.E., Betlach M.R. 1981; Quantitation of microbial growth on surfaces. Microbial Ecology 1:1–11
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Costerton J.W., Cheng K.J., Geesey G.G., Ladd T.I., Nickel J.C., Dasgupta M., Marrie T.J. 1987; Bacterial biofilms in nature and disease. Annual Review of Microbiology 41:435–464
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Fraleigh S.P., Bungay H.R. 1986; Modelling of nutrient gradients in a bacterial colony. Journal of General Microbiology 132:2057–2060
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Freter R., Freter R.R., Brichner H. 1983; Experimental and mathematical models of Escherichia coli plasmid transfer in vitro and in vivo. Infection and Immunity 39:60–84
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Levin B.R., Lenski R.E. 1983; Coevolution in bacteria and their viruses and plasmids. In Coevolution pp. 99–127 Futuyma J., Slatkin M. Edited by Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associate;
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Levin B.R., Stewart F.M., Rice V.A. 1979; The kinetics of conjugative plasmid transmission: fit of a simple mass action model. Plasmid 2:247–260
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Lundquist P.D., Levin B.R. 1986; Transitory derepression and the maintenance of conjugative plasmids. Genetics 113:483–497
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Meynell G.G. 1973 Bacterial Plasmids. Cambridge, Massachusetts:: MIT Press.;
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Miller J.H. 1972 Experiments in Molecular Genetics. Cold Spring Harbor, NY:: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.;
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Newton A. 1970; Isolation and characterization of frameshift mutations of the lac operon. Journal of Molecular Biology 49:589–601
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Nowicki B., Rhen M., Vaisanen-Rhen V., Pere A., Korhonen T. 1985; Organization of fimbriate cells in colonies of Escherichia coli strain 3040. Journal of General Microbiology 131:1263–1266
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Pirt S.J. 1967; A kinetic study of the mode of growth of surface colonies of bacteria and fungi. Journal of General Microbiology 47:181–197
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Shapiro J.A. 1985; Scanning electron microscope study of Pseudomonas putida colonies. Journal of Bacteriology 164:1171–1181
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Shapiro J.A. 1987; Organization of developing Escherichia coli colonies viewed by scanning electron microscopy. Journal of Bacteriology 169:142–156
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Stewart F.M., Levin B.R. 1977; The population biology of bacterial plasmids: a priori conditions for the existence of conjugationally transmitted factors. Genetics 87:209–228
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Willetts N.S. 1974; The kinetics of inhibition of Flac transfer by R100 in E. coli . Molecular and General Genetics 129:123–130
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Wimpenny J.W.T., Parr J.A. 1979; Biochemical differentiation in large colonies of Enterobacter cloacae . Journal of General Microbiology 114:487–489
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-136-6-1001
Loading
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-136-6-1001
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error