Adaptation to novel spatially-structured environments is driven by the capsule and alters virulence-associated traits

The extracellular capsule is a major virulence factor, but its ubiquity in free-living bacteria with large environmental breadths suggests that it shapes adaptation to novel niches. Yet, how it does so, remains unexplored. Here, we evolve three Klebsiella strains and their capsule mutants in paralle...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2022-08, Vol.13 (1), p.4751-4751, Article 4751
Main Authors: Nucci, Amandine, Rocha, Eduardo P. C., Rendueles, Olaya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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631/326/325/2482
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Adaptation
Antibiotics
Bacteriology
Biodiversity and Ecology
Biofilms
Environmental Sciences
Evolution
Exopolysaccharides
Humanities and Social Sciences
Klebsiella
Life Sciences
Microbiology and Parasitology
multidisciplinary
Mutation
Populations
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Virulence
Virulence factors
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Summary:The extracellular capsule is a major virulence factor, but its ubiquity in free-living bacteria with large environmental breadths suggests that it shapes adaptation to novel niches. Yet, how it does so, remains unexplored. Here, we evolve three Klebsiella strains and their capsule mutants in parallel. Their comparison reveals different phenotypic and genotypic evolutionary changes that alter virulence-associated traits. Non-capsulated populations accumulate mutations that reduce exopolysaccharide production and increase biofilm formation and yield, whereas most capsulated populations become hypermucoviscous, a signature of hypervirulence. Hence, adaptation to novel environments primarily occurs by fine-tuning expression of the capsular locus. The same evolutionary conditions selecting for mutations in the capsular gene wzc leading to hypermucoviscosity also result in increased susceptibility to antibiotics by mutations in the ramA regulon. This implies that general adaptive processes outside the host can affect capsule evolution and its role in virulence and infection outcomes may be a by-product of such adaptation. Phenotypic and genotypic evolution in worrisome Klebsiella spp. is influenced by the capsule. Here the authors show that adaptation outside the host can impact virulence-associated traits, including de novo emergence of hypermucoviscosity.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-32504-9