RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Bacterial c-di-GMP plays a key role in the evolution of host-association
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2023.03.20.533436
DO 10.1101/2023.03.20.533436
A1 Nancy Obeng
A1 Anna Czerwinski
A1 Daniel Schütz
A1 Jan Michels
A1 Jan Leipert
A1 Florence Bansept
A1 Thekla Schultheiß
A1 Melinda Kemlein
A1 Janina Fuß
A1 Andreas Tholey
A1 Arne Traulsen
A1 Hinrich Schulenburg
YR 2023
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/03/20/2023.03.20.533436.abstract
AB Most microbes evolve faster than their hosts and should therefore drive evolution of host-microbe interactions1–3. However, relatively little is known about the characteristics that define the adaptive path of microbes to host-association. In this study we have identified microbial traits that mediate adaptation to hosts by experimentally evolving the bacterium Pseudomonas lurida with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We repeatedly observed the evolution of beneficial host-specialist bacteria with improved persistence in the nematode, achieved by mutations that uniformly upregulate the universal second messenger c-di-GMP. We subsequently upregulated c-di-GMP in different Pseudomonas species, consistently causing increased host-association. Comparison of Pseudomonad genomes from various environments revealed that c-di-GMP underlies adaptation to a variety of hosts, from plants to humans, suggesting that it is fundamental for establishing host-association.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.