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Bacterial physiology

Something in the air

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 9, page 562 (2011)Cite this article

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gaseous ammonia produced by bacteria ... modulates antibiotic resistance ... in physically separated bacteria

An unidentified volatile compound produced by Escherichia coli was previously shown to increase resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline in physically separated E. coli cells. To investigate this phenomenon, Ghigo et al. used a two-Petri-dish assay in which 'recipient' bacteria were grown on a lidless agar plate inside a closed larger Petri dish that contained spent medium from cultures of 'producer' bacteria. Using E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis as either recipients or producers, the authors showed that spent medium of stationary phase cultures induced in the recipients an increased resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline and a decreased resistance to aminoglycosides. The volatile compound was not produced by E. coli mutants with defects in proteins associated with aspartate metabolism, such as aspartate ammonia lyase (AspA), which converts aspartate into fumarate and ammonia (NH3), a volatile compound. Accordingly, 5 mM NH3 solutions had the same activity as spent media in the two-Petri-dish assay, and spent medium from the AspA-defective mutant contained ∼50% less NH3 than that from the wild type. Thus, the volatile molecule was NH3 produced by the conversion of aspartate into fumarate.

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Change history

  • 22 July 2011

    The author Delepierre was incorrectly written as Delapierre; this has now been corrected.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Bernier, S. P., Létoffé, S., Delepierre, M. & Ghigo, J.-M. Biogenic ammonia modifies antibiotic resistance at a distance in physically separated bacteria. Mol. Microbiol. 9 Jun 2011 (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07724.x)

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  1. Cesar Sanchez
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Sanchez, C. Something in the air. Nat Rev Microbiol 9, 562 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2627

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2627

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