Resolving the conflict between antibiotic production and rapid growth by recognition of peptidoglycan of susceptible competitors

Harsh Maan, Maxim Itkin, Sergey Malitsky, Jonathan Friedman and Ilana Kolodkin-Gal ()
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Harsh Maan: Weizmann Institute of Science
Maxim Itkin: Life Science Core Facilities Weizmann Institute of Science
Sergey Malitsky: Life Science Core Facilities Weizmann Institute of Science
Jonathan Friedman: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ilana Kolodkin-Gal: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Microbial communities employ a variety of complex strategies to compete successfully against competitors sharing their niche, with antibiotic production being a common strategy of aggression. Here, by systematic evaluation of four non-ribosomal peptides/polyketide (NRPs/PKS) antibiotics produced by Bacillus subtilis clade, we revealed that they acted synergistically to effectively eliminate phylogenetically distinct competitors. The production of these antibiotics came with a fitness cost manifested in growth inhibition, rendering their synthesis uneconomical when growing in proximity to a phylogenetically close species, carrying resistance against the same antibiotics. To resolve this conflict and ease the fitness cost, antibiotic production was only induced by the presence of a peptidoglycan cue from a sensitive competitor, a response mediated by the global regulator of cellular competence, ComA. These results experimentally demonstrate a general ecological concept – closely related communities are favoured during competition, due to compatibility in attack and defence mechanisms.

Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27904-2

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27904-2

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