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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2006, p. 5414-5420, Vol. 72, No. 8
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00546-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Ecological Advantages of Autolysis during the Development and Dispersal of Pseudoalteromonas tunicata Biofilms

Anne Mai-Prochnow,1 Jeremy S. Webb,1,{dagger} Belinda C. Ferrari,2 and Staffan Kjelleberg1*

School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences and Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia,1 Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia2

Received 7 March 2006/ Accepted 24 May 2006

In the ubiquitous marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata, subpopulations of cells are killed by the production of an autocidal protein, AlpP, during biofilm development. Our data demonstrate an involvement of this process in two parameters, dispersal and phenotypic diversification, which are of importance for the ecology of this organism and for its survival within the environment. Cell death in P. tunicata wild-type biofilms led to a major reproducible dispersal event after 192 h of biofilm development. The dispersal was not observed with a {Delta}AlpP mutant strain. Using flow cytometry and the fluorescent dye DiBAC4(3), we also show that P. tunicata wild-type cells that disperse from biofilms have enhanced metabolic activity compared to those cells that disperse from {Delta}AlpP mutant biofilms, possibly due to nutrients released from dead cells. Furthermore, we report that there was considerable phenotypic variation among cells dispersing from wild-type biofilms but not from the {Delta}AlpP mutant. Wild-type cells that dispersed from biofilms showed significantly increased variations in growth, motility, and biofilm formation, which may be important for successful colonization of new surfaces. These findings suggest for the first time that the autocidal events mediated by an antibacterial protein can confer ecological advantages to the species by generating a metabolically active and phenotypically diverse subpopulation of dispersal cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences and Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, Biological Sciences Building, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Phone: 61 (2) 9385 2102/2276. Fax: 61 (2) 9385 1779. E-mail: s.kjelleberg{at}unsw.edu.au.

{dagger} Present address: School of Biological Sciences, University of South Hampton, South Hampton S016 7PS, United Kingdom.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2006, p. 5414-5420, Vol. 72, No. 8
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00546-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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