PUBLICATION
Sublethal antibiotics collapse gut bacterial populations by enhancing aggregation and expulsion
- Authors
- Schlomann, B.H., Wiles, T.J., Wall, E.S., Guillemin, K., Parthasarathy, R.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-191011-3
- Date
- 2019
- Source
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116(43): 21392-21400 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Guillemin, Karen
- Keywords
- aggregation, antibiotics, bacteria, gut microbiota, population dynamics
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Anti-Bacterial Agents/toxicity*
- Bacteria/drug effects*
- Bacteria/genetics
- Bacteria/growth & development
- Bacteria/isolation & purification
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects*
- Intestines/drug effects
- Intestines/microbiology
- Zebrafish/microbiology
- PubMed
- 31591228 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Citation
Schlomann, B.H., Wiles, T.J., Wall, E.S., Guillemin, K., Parthasarathy, R. (2019) Sublethal antibiotics collapse gut bacterial populations by enhancing aggregation and expulsion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 116(43):21392-21400.
Abstract
Antibiotics induce large and highly variable changes in the intestinal microbiome even at sublethal concentrations, through mechanisms that remain elusive. Using gnotobiotic zebrafish, which allow high-resolution examination of microbial dynamics, we found that sublethal doses of the common antibiotic ciprofloxacin cause severe drops in bacterial abundance. Contrary to conventional views of antimicrobial tolerance, disruption was more pronounced for slow-growing, aggregated bacteria than for fast-growing, planktonic species. Live imaging revealed that antibiotic treatment promoted bacterial aggregation and increased susceptibility to intestinal expulsion. Intestinal mechanics therefore amplify the effects of antibiotics on resident bacteria. Microbial dynamics are captured by a biophysical model that connects antibiotic-induced collapses to gelation phase transitions in soft materials, providing a framework for predicting the impact of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiome.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping