Predation contributes to the structure and diversity of microbial communities. Predatory myxobacteria are ubiquitous to a variety of microbial habitats and capably consume a broad diversity of microbial prey. Predator-prey experiments utilizing myxobacteria have provided details into predatory mechanisms and features that facilitate consumption of prey. However, prey resistance to myxobacterial predation remains underexplored, and prey resistances have been observed exclusively from predator-prey experiments that included the model myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus. Utilizing a predator-prey pairing that instead included the myxobacterium, Cystobacter ferrugineus, with Pseudomonas putida as prey, we infrequently observed surviving phenotypes capable of eluding predation. Comparative transcriptomics between P. putida unexposed to C. ferrugineus and the survivor phenotype suggested that increased expression of efflux pumps, genes associated with mucoid conversion, and various membrane features contribute to predator avoidance. The P. putida survivor phenotype was confirmed to be resistant to the antibiotics kanamycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline and to produce more alginate, pyoveridine, and phenazine-1-carboxylic acid than predator-unexposed P. putida. Unique features observed from the survivor phenotype including small colony variation, efflux-mediated antibiotic resistance, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid production, and increased mucoid conversion overlap with traits associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa predator avoidance and pathogenicity. The survivor phenotype also benefited from increased predator resistance during subsequent predation assays. These results demonstrate the utility of myxobacterial predator-prey models and provide insight into prey resistances in response to predatory stress might contribute to the phenotypic diversity and structure of bacterial communities.

中文翻译：

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粘胶粘杆菌克鲁维氏菌对粘液样，抗生素抗性恶臭假单胞菌表型的掠食性选择

捕食有助于微生物群落的结构和多样性。掠食性粘细菌普遍存在于各种微生物栖息地中，并且能够消耗各种各样的微生物猎物。利用黏细菌的食肉动物-猎物实验提供了有助于捕食的掠食性机制和特征的详细信息。但是，对粘膜细菌捕食的猎物抗性仍未得到充分的研究，并且仅从包括模型粘杆菌Myxococcus xanthus在内的捕食者-猎物实验中观察到了对猎物的抗性。我们使用捕食者与猎物的配对，而不是包括粘杆菌，克鲁氏杆菌，与恶臭假单胞菌作为猎物，我们很少观察到能够逃避捕食的幸存表型。未暴露于丙型假单胞菌之间的比较转录组学 Ferrugineus和幸存者表型表明外排泵表达增加，与粘液样转换相关的基因以及各种膜特征有助于避免捕食。恶臭假单胞菌的幸存者表型被证实对抗生素卡那霉素，庆大霉素和四环素具有抗性，并且比未暴露于捕食者的恶臭假单胞菌产生更多的藻酸盐，嘧啶和吩嗪-1-羧酸。从幸存者表型观察到的独特特征包括小菌落变化，外排介导的抗生素抗性，吩嗪-1-羧酸生成和增加的粘液转化，以及与铜绿假单胞菌捕食者避免和致病性相关的特征重叠。幸存者表型还受益于随后的捕食试验中增加的捕食者抵抗力。