Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes

ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, is a model organism for studying virulence regulation, biofilm formation, horizontal gene transfer, and the cell-to-cell communication known as quorum sensing (QS). As in any research field, discrepancies between data from diverse laboratorie...

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Autores principales: Sandrine Stutzmann, Melanie Blokesch
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Publicado: American Society for Microbiology 2016
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:91d1ba8fcd7d4c1dbea27caf79a9145c2021-11-15T15:21:18ZCirculation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes10.1128/mSphere.00098-162379-5042https://doaj.org/article/91d1ba8fcd7d4c1dbea27caf79a9145c2016-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSphere.00098-16https://doaj.org/toc/2379-5042ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, is a model organism for studying virulence regulation, biofilm formation, horizontal gene transfer, and the cell-to-cell communication known as quorum sensing (QS). As in any research field, discrepancies between data from diverse laboratories are sometimes observed for V. cholerae. Such discrepancies are often caused by the use of diverse patient or environmental isolates. In this study, we investigated the inability of a few laboratories to reproduce high levels of natural transformation, a mode of horizontal gene transfer that is specifically induced on chitinous surfaces. This irreproducibility was mostly related to one specific isolate of V. cholerae: the O1 El Tor C6706 strain. C6706 was previously described as QS proficient, an important prerequisite for the induction of natural competence for transformation. To elucidate the underlying problem, we collected seven isolates of the same C6706 strain from different research laboratories in North America and Europe and compared their phenotypes. Importantly, we observed a split response with respect to QS-related gene expression, including chitin-induced natural competence and type VI secretion (T6S). While approximately half of the strains behaved as reported for several other O1 El Tor pandemic isolates that are commonly studied in the laboratory, the other half were significantly impaired in QS-related expression patterns. This impairment was caused by a mutation in a QS-related gene (luxO). We conclude that the circulation of such QS-impaired wild-type strains is responsible for masking several important phenotypes of V. cholerae, including natural competence for transformation and T6S. IMPORTANCE Phenotypic diversity between laboratory-domesticated bacterial strains is a common problem and often results in the failed reproduction of published data. However, researchers rarely compare such strains to elucidate the underlying mutation(s). In this study, we tested one of the best-studied V. cholerae isolates, O1 El Tor strain C6706 (a patient isolate from Peru), with respect to two main phenotypes: natural competence for transformation and type VI secretion. We recently demonstrated that the two phenotypes are coregulated and specifically induced upon the growth of pandemic V. cholerae O1 El Tor strains on chitinous surfaces. We provide evidence that of seven C6706 strains collected from different laboratories, four were impaired in the tested phenotypes due to a mutation in a QS gene. Collectively, our data indicate that the circulation of such a mutated wild-type strain of C6706 might have had important consequences for QS-related data.Sandrine StutzmannMelanie BlokeschAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleVibrio choleraeluxO mutationnatural competence for transformationquorum sensingtype VI secretion systemMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmSphere, Vol 1, Iss 3 (2016)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Vibrio cholerae
luxO mutation
natural competence for transformation
quorum sensing
type VI secretion system
Microbiology
QR1-502
spellingShingle Vibrio cholerae
luxO mutation
natural competence for transformation
quorum sensing
type VI secretion system
Microbiology
QR1-502
Sandrine Stutzmann
Melanie Blokesch
Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes
description ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, is a model organism for studying virulence regulation, biofilm formation, horizontal gene transfer, and the cell-to-cell communication known as quorum sensing (QS). As in any research field, discrepancies between data from diverse laboratories are sometimes observed for V. cholerae. Such discrepancies are often caused by the use of diverse patient or environmental isolates. In this study, we investigated the inability of a few laboratories to reproduce high levels of natural transformation, a mode of horizontal gene transfer that is specifically induced on chitinous surfaces. This irreproducibility was mostly related to one specific isolate of V. cholerae: the O1 El Tor C6706 strain. C6706 was previously described as QS proficient, an important prerequisite for the induction of natural competence for transformation. To elucidate the underlying problem, we collected seven isolates of the same C6706 strain from different research laboratories in North America and Europe and compared their phenotypes. Importantly, we observed a split response with respect to QS-related gene expression, including chitin-induced natural competence and type VI secretion (T6S). While approximately half of the strains behaved as reported for several other O1 El Tor pandemic isolates that are commonly studied in the laboratory, the other half were significantly impaired in QS-related expression patterns. This impairment was caused by a mutation in a QS-related gene (luxO). We conclude that the circulation of such QS-impaired wild-type strains is responsible for masking several important phenotypes of V. cholerae, including natural competence for transformation and T6S. IMPORTANCE Phenotypic diversity between laboratory-domesticated bacterial strains is a common problem and often results in the failed reproduction of published data. However, researchers rarely compare such strains to elucidate the underlying mutation(s). In this study, we tested one of the best-studied V. cholerae isolates, O1 El Tor strain C6706 (a patient isolate from Peru), with respect to two main phenotypes: natural competence for transformation and type VI secretion. We recently demonstrated that the two phenotypes are coregulated and specifically induced upon the growth of pandemic V. cholerae O1 El Tor strains on chitinous surfaces. We provide evidence that of seven C6706 strains collected from different laboratories, four were impaired in the tested phenotypes due to a mutation in a QS gene. Collectively, our data indicate that the circulation of such a mutated wild-type strain of C6706 might have had important consequences for QS-related data.
format article
author Sandrine Stutzmann
Melanie Blokesch
author_facet Sandrine Stutzmann
Melanie Blokesch
author_sort Sandrine Stutzmann
title Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes
title_short Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes
title_full Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes
title_fullStr Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes
title_full_unstemmed Circulation of a Quorum-Sensing-Impaired Variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Vibrio cholerae</named-content> Strain C6706 Masks Important Phenotypes
title_sort circulation of a quorum-sensing-impaired variant of <named-content content-type="genus-species">vibrio cholerae</named-content> strain c6706 masks important phenotypes
publisher American Society for Microbiology
publishDate 2016
url https://doaj.org/article/91d1ba8fcd7d4c1dbea27caf79a9145c
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