Genetic components of Escherichia coli involved in its complex prey-predator interaction with Myxococcus xanthus

Ning Zhang; Tingyi Li; Hongwei Pan; Yipeng Wang; Qi Li; Jia Luan; Xuesong He; Wenyuan Shi; Yuezhong Li; Chuandong Wang; Fengyu Zhang; Wei Hu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1304874

Genetic components of Escherichia coli involved in its complex prey-predator interaction with Myxococcus xanthus

Front Microbiol. 2023 Dec 5:14:1304874. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1304874. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ning Zhang¹, Tingyi Li¹, Hongwei Pan², Yipeng Wang¹, Qi Li¹, Jia Luan³, Xuesong He^{4

5}, Wenyuan Shi⁴, Yuezhong Li¹, Chuandong Wang¹, Fengyu Zhang¹, Wei Hu¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
² Department of Clinical Laboratory, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
³ Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, United States.
⁵ Department of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, United States.

Abstract

Myxococcus xanthus and Escherichia coli represent a well-studied microbial predator-prey pair frequently examined in laboratory settings. While significant progress has been made in comprehending the mechanisms governing M. xanthus predation, various aspects of the response and defensive mechanisms of E. coli as prey remain elusive. In this study, the E. coli MG1655 large-scale chromosome deletion library was screened, and a mutant designated as ME5012 was identified to possess significantly reduced susceptibility to predation by M. xanthus. Within the deleted region of ME5012 encompassing seven genes, the significance of dusB and fis genes in driving the observed phenotype became apparent. Specifically, the deletion of fis resulted in a notable reduction in flagellum production in E. coli, contributing to a certain level of resistance against predation by M. xanthus. Meanwhile, the removal of dusB in E. coli led to diminished inducibility of myxovirescin A production by M. xanthus, accompanied by a slight decrease in susceptibility to myxovirescin A. These findings shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the complex interaction between M. xanthus and E. coli in a predatory context.

Keywords: Escherichia coli; Myxococcus xanthus; dusB gene; fis gene; flagellum; myxovirescin A; predator-prey interaction.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070100, to WH), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2021QC087, to CW), and the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFC2101000, to WH).