Cell density and mobility protect swarming bacteria against antibiotics

Swarming bacteria move in multicellular groups and exhibit adaptive resistance to multiple antibiotics. Analysis of this phenomenon has revealed the protective power of high cell densities to withstand exposure to otherwise lethal antibiotic concentrations. We find that high densities promote bacter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2010-02, Vol.107 (8), p.3776-3781
Main Authors: Butler, Mitchell T, Wang, Qingfeng, Harshey, Rasika M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotics
Antimicrobial agents
Bacillus subtilis - drug effects
Bacillus subtilis - physiology
Bacteria
Biofilms
Biofilms - drug effects
Biological Sciences
Cell death
Cell density
Cell growth
Cells
Colony Count, Microbial
Drug Resistance, Bacterial - physiology
Flagella - drug effects
Flagella - physiology
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Mobility
Polymyxins
quorum sensing
Salmonella
Salmonella enterica
Salmonella typhimurium - drug effects
Salmonella typhimurium - physiology
Serratia
Serratia marcescens - drug effects
Serratia marcescens - physiology
Surfactants
Swarming
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Summary:Swarming bacteria move in multicellular groups and exhibit adaptive resistance to multiple antibiotics. Analysis of this phenomenon has revealed the protective power of high cell densities to withstand exposure to otherwise lethal antibiotic concentrations. We find that high densities promote bacterial survival, even in a nonswarming state, but that the ability to move, as well as the speed of movement, confers an added advantage, making swarming an effective strategy for prevailing against antimicrobials. We find no evidence of induced resistance pathways or quorum-sensing mechanisms controlling this group resistance, which occurs at a cost to cells directly exposed to the antibiotic. This work has relevance to the adaptive antibiotic resistance of bacterial biofilms.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0910934107