PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Silvio D. Brugger
AU  - Sara M. Eslami
AU  - Melinda M. Pettigrew
AU  - Isabel F. Escapa
AU  - Matthew M. Henke
AU  - Yong Kong
AU  - Katherine P. Lemon
TI  - <em>Dolosigranulum pigrum</em> cooperation and competition in human nasal microbiota
AID  - 10.1101/678698
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 678698
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/21/678698.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/21/678698.full
AB  - Multiple epidemiological studies identify Dolosigranulum pigrum as a candidate beneficial bacterium based on its positive association with health, including negative associations with nasal/nasopharyngeal colonization by the pathogenic species Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. To gain insight into D. pigrum’s functions, we used a multipronged strategy. We identified in vivo community-level and in vitro phenotypic cooperation by specific nasal Corynebacterium species. D. pigrum inhibited S. aureus growth in vitro. Whereas, D. pigrum plus a nasal Corynebacterium were needed to inhibit S. pneumoniae growth. Moreover, D. pigrum L-lactic-acid production was insufficient for this inhibition. Genomic analysis of 11 strains revealed that D. pigrum has a small genome (average 1.86 Mb) and multiple predicted auxotrophies, which indicate that D. pigrum relies on its human host and cocolonizing bacteria for key nutrients. This shift to genomic and phenotypic experimentation marks a significant advance in understanding D. pigrum’s role in human nasal microbiota.