Pseudomonas aeruginosa rhamnolipid micelles deliver toxic metabolites and antibiotics into Staphylococcus aureus

Bartosz Gerard Gdaniec; Fabien Bonini; François Prodon; Thomas Braschler; Thilo Köhler; Christian van Delden

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103669

Pseudomonas aeruginosa rhamnolipid micelles deliver toxic metabolites and antibiotics into Staphylococcus aureus

iScience. 2021 Dec 20;25(1):103669. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103669. eCollection 2022 Jan 21.

Authors

Bartosz Gerard Gdaniec^{1

2

3}, Fabien Bonini³, François Prodon⁴, Thomas Braschler³, Thilo Köhler^{1

2}, Christian van Delden^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Transplant Infectious Diseases Unit, University Hospitals Geneva, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
² Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, University of Geneva, 1, Rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
³ Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1, Rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Bioimaging Core Facility, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.

Abstract

Efficient delivery of toxic compounds to bacterial competitors is essential during interspecies microbial warfare. Rhamnolipids (RLPs) are glycolipids produced by Pseudomonas and Burkholderia species involved in solubilization and uptake of environmental aliphatic hydrocarbons and perform as biosurfactants for swarming motility. Here, we show that RLPs produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa associate to form micelles. Using high-resolution microscopy, we found that RLP micelles serve as carriers for self-produced toxic compounds, which they deliver to Staphylococcus aureus cells, thereby enhancing and accelerating S. aureus killing. RLPs also potentiated the activity of lincosamide antibiotics, suggesting that RLP micelles may transport not only self-produced but also heterologous compounds to target competing bacterial species.

Keywords: Lipid; Microbiology.