RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A cross-species interaction with a symbiotic commensal enables cell-density-dependent growth and in vivo virulence of an oral pathogen
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.09.30.320770
DO 10.1101/2020.09.30.320770
A1 Anilei Hoare
A1 Hui Wang
A1 Archana Meethil
A1 Loreto Abusleme
A1 Bo-Young Hong
A1 Niki M. Moutsopoulos
A1 Philip D. Marsh
A1 George Hajishengallis
A1 Patricia I. Diaz
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/30/2020.09.30.320770.abstract
AB Recent studies describe in detail the shifts in composition of human-associated polymicrobial communities from health to disease. However, the specific processes that drive the colonization and overgrowth of pathogens within these communities remain incompletely understood. We used in vitro culture systems and a disease-relevant mouse model to show that population size, which determines the availability of an endogenous diffusible small molecule, limits the growth, colonization, and in vivo virulence of the human oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. This bacterial pathogen overcomes the requirement for an endogenous cue by utilizing a cell-density dependent, growth-promoting, soluble molecule provided by the symbiotic early colonizer Veillonella parvula, but not produced by other commensals tested. Our work shows that exchange of cell-density-dependent diffusible cues between specific early and late colonizing species in a polymicrobial community drives microbial successions, pathogen colonization and disease development, representing a target process for manipulation of the microbiome towards the healthy state.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.