Natures wonders: how antibiotic spores spread (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 14:10 (1128 days ago) @ David Turell

The spores are from Streptomycetes bacteria which make antibiotics:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-021-00952-8

"Here, we show that Streptomyces spores are capable of utilizing the motility machinery of other soil bacteria. Motility assays and microscopy studies reveal that Streptomyces spores are transported to plant tissues by interacting directly with the flagella of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Genetics experiments demonstrate that this form of motility is facilitated by structural proteins on the spore coat. These results demonstrate that nonmotile bacteria are capable of utilizing the motility machinery of other microbes to complete necessary stages of their lifecycle.

***

"Here, we demonstrate that spores of the sessile Streptomycetes, such as Sc, are transported by Bs to their preferred microenvironment. Sc and Bs are both soil-dwelling bacteria that utilize plant root exudate as a nutritive source. Using microscopy methods, motility assays, and genetics approaches, we demonstrate that Bs transports Sc spores via direct attachment to Bs flagella, a mode of transportation we call “hitchhiking”. Hitchhiking is dependent on the conserved rodlin proteins, which form a fibrous outer layer on the spore coat of almost all Streptomycetes, but with a hitherto unclear function. These results exemplify that nonmotile bacteria are capable of utilizing the motility machinery of other microbes to occupy advantageous environments, and that this mode of transport may be widespread in nature.

From a Science mag report:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/microscopic-hitchhiker-friend-both-plants-and-h...

"Soil bacteria called Streptomyces are the guardian angels of the microbial world: They produce antibiotics that humans depend on and protect plants from harmful microbes. But because neither the bacteria nor their spores can move themselves around, researchers have long puzzled over how they find the plants they protect.

"Now scientists have discovered that the microbe’s dormant spores (brown) hitch rides on the whiplike appendages—flagella—of mobile soil microbes (blue) heading for plant roots. The journey is an essential part of Streptomyces’ life cycle, the researchers report this month in The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology.

"Microscopic examinations revealed the spore surface is lined with rows of proteins called rodlins that may grab a passing flagellum—working much like Velcro. The researchers have seen the hitchhikers transported 10 centimeters—the limit of the size of the dish they were on. They think that in soil, the spores may travel even farther.

"A few other species of bacteria and a fungus are known to catch rides on other microbes. But this is a first for spores, which are known to latch on to insects and other small animals to travel long distances. The team suspects hitchhiking is a common mode of transportation for nonmotile bacteria.

"Still, not everyone gets a free ride. For the bacteria providing the transport, says one of the study’s authors, “it’s like a ball and chain around your ankle.'”

Comment: This bacterium and Penicillium mold gave us our first antibiotics for humans. The war between organisms is a permanent part of living. These are very complex molecules that well could have been designed by God.