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Selection experiments reveal trade-offs between swimming and twitching motilities in pseudomonas aeruginosa

Taylor, T. B. and Buckling, A. (2011) Selection experiments reveal trade-offs between swimming and twitching motilities in pseudomonas aeruginosa. Evolution, 65 (11). pp. 3060-3069. ISSN 1558-5646

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To link to this item DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01376.x

Abstract/Summary

Bacteria possess a range of mechanisms to move in different environments, and these mechanisms have important direct and correlated impacts on the virulence of opportunistic pathogens. Bacteria use two surface organelles to facilitate motility: a single polar flagellum, and type IV pili, enabling swimming in aqueous habitats and twitching along hard surfaces, respectively. Here, we address whether there are trade-offs between these motility mechanisms, and hence whether different environments could select for altered motility. We experimentally evolved initially isogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa under conditions that favored the different types of motility, and found evidence for a trade-off mediated by antagonistic pleiotropy between swimming and twitching. Moreover, changes in motility resulted in correlated changes in other behaviors, including biofilm formation and growth within an insect host. This suggests environmental origins of a particular motile opportunistic pathogen could predictably influence motility and virulence

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:No Reading authors. Back catalogue items
Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
ID Code:39012
Uncontrolled Keywords:Experimental evolution; flagella; type IV pili; virulence
Publisher:Wiley

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