The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Antibiotics as intermicrobial signaling agents instead of weapons
Open accessAbstract
It has been widely assumed that the ecological function of antibiotics in nature is fighting against competitors. This made them a good example of the Darwinian struggle-for-life in the microbial world. Based on this idea, it also has been believed that antibiotics, even at subinhibitory concentrations, reduce virulence of bacterial pathogens. Herein, using a combination of genomic and functional assays, we demonstrate that specific antibiotics (namely tobramycin, tetracycline, and norfloxacin) at subinhibitory concentrations trigger expression of determinants influencing the virulence of the major opportunistic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa . All three antibiotics induce biofilm formation; tobramycin increases bacterial motility, and tetracycline triggers expression of P. aeruginosa type III secretion system and consequently bacterial cytotoxicity. Besides their relevance in the infection process, those determinants are relevant for the ecological behavior of this bacterial species in natural, nonclinical environments, either by favoring colonization of surfaces (biofilm, motility) or for fighting against eukaryotic predators (cytotoxicity). Our results support the notion that antibiotics are not only bacterial weapons for fighting competitors but also signaling molecules that may regulate the homeostasis of microbial communities. At low concentrations, they can even be beneficial for the behavior of susceptible bacteria in natural environments. This is a complete change on our vision on the ecological function of antibiotics with clear implications both for the treatment of infectious diseases and for the understanding of the microbial relationships in the biosphere.
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Cites
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Cited by
Call of the wild: antibiotic resistance genes in natural environments
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Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Microbial Ecosystems through Horizontal Gene Transfer
von Wintersdorff, C. J. H., Penders, J., van Niekerk, J. M., Mills, N. D., Majumder, S., van Alphen, L. B., Savelkoul, P. H. M., & Wolffs, P. F. G. (2016) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00173 · Cited by 1,707
Environmental factors influencing the development and spread of antibiotic resistance
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The multifaceted roles of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in nature
Sengupta, S., Chattopadhyay, M. K., & Grossart, H.-P. (2013) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2013.00047 · Cited by 629
Metadata
- Authors
- Linares, J. F., Gustafsson, I., Baquero, F., & Martinez, J. L.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2006-12-19
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 51
- Pages
- 19484-19489
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- OpenAlex
- W2011005269
- Cited by
- 658
- References
- 30
- FWCI
- 7.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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- Linares, J. F., Gustafsson, I., Baquero, F., & Martinez, J. L. (2006). Antibiotics as intermicrobial signaling agents instead of weapons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0608949103
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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