imprint:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020
Published in:Communications Biology
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1038/s42003-020-0993-2
ISSN:
2399-3642
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Bacterial strains of the phylum Planctomycetes occur ubiquitously, but are often found on surfaces of aquatic phototrophs, e.g. alga. Despite slower growth, planctomycetes are not outcompeted by faster-growing bacteria in biofilms on such surfaces; however, strategies allowing them to compensate for slower growth have not yet been investigated. Here, we identified stieleriacines, a class of <jats:italic>N</jats:italic>-acylated tyrosines produced by the novel planctomycete <jats:italic>Stieleria maiorica</jats:italic> Mal15<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>, and analysed their effects on growth of the producing strain and bacterial species likely co-occurring with strain Mal15<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>. Stieleriacines reduced the lag phase of Mal15<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> and either stimulated or inhibited biofilm formation of two bacterial competitors, indicating that Mal15<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> employs stieleriacines to specifically alter microbial biofilm composition. The genetic organisation of the putative stieleriacine biosynthetic cluster in strain Mal15<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> points towards a functional link of stieleriacine biosynthesis to exopolysaccharide-associated protein sorting and biofilm formation.</jats:p>