Surfactin Facilitates Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacillus subtilis

Tjaša Danevčič; Anna Dragoš; Mihael Spacapan; Polonca Stefanic; Iztok Dogsa; Ines Mandic-Mulec

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.657407

Surfactin Facilitates Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacillus subtilis

Front Microbiol. 2021 May 14:12:657407. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.657407. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Tjaša Danevčič¹, Anna Dragoš^{1

2}, Mihael Spacapan¹, Polonca Stefanic¹, Iztok Dogsa¹, Ines Mandic-Mulec¹

Affiliations

¹ Chair of Microbiology, Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
² Bacterial Interactions and Evolution Group, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.

Abstract

Genetic competence for the uptake and integration of extracellular DNA is a key process in horizontal gene transfer (HGT), one of the most powerful forces driving the evolution of bacteria. In several species, development of genetic competence is coupled with cell lysis. Using Bacillus subtilis as a model bacterium, we studied the role of surfactin, a powerful biosurfactant and antimicrobial lipopeptide, in genetic transformation. We showed that surfactin itself promotes cell lysis and DNA release, thereby promoting HGT. These results, therefore, provide evidence for a fundamental mechanism involved in HGT and significantly increase our understanding of the spreading of antibiotic resistance genes and diversification of microbial communities in the environment.

Keywords: DNA exchange; cell lysis; competence; extracellular DNA; horizontal gene transfer; quorum sensing; surfactin.