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Burkholderia thailandensis outer membrane vesicles exert antimicrobial activity against drug-resistant and competitor microbial species

  • Microbial Ecology and Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Gram-negative bacteria secrete outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) that play critical roles in intraspecies, interspecies, and bacteria-environment interactions. Some OMVs, such as those produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, have previously been shown to possess antimicrobial activity against competitor species. In the current study, we demonstrate that OMVs from Burkholderia thailandensis inhibit the growth of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant bacteria and fungi. We show that a number of antimicrobial compounds, including peptidoglycan hydrolases, 4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-(2-non-enyl)-quinoline (HMNQ) and long-chain rhamnolipid are present in or tightly associate with B. thailandensis OMVs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that HMNQ and rhamnolipid possess antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These findings indicate that B. thailandensis secretes antimicrobial OMVs that may impart a survival advantage by eliminating competition. In addition, bacterial OMVs may represent an untapped resource of novel therapeutics effective against bio-film-forming and multidrug-resistant organisms.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant to LM from the Committee on Research at Tulane University. We thank Jibao He, supervisor of the Microscopy Lab at Tulane University Coordinated Instrument Facility, for assistance with electron microscopy, and Qi Zhao, supervisor of the Organic Lab at Tulane University Coordinated Instrument Facility, for assistance with NMR spectroscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Yihui Wang, Joseph P. Hoffmann, Kerstin Höner zu Bentrup, Jacob P. Bitoun & Lisa A. Morici

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Athens, GA, USA

    Chau-Wen Chou

  3. Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Joseph A. Fuselier

  4. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    William C. Wimley

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  1. Yihui Wang
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  2. Joseph P. Hoffmann
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  3. Chau-Wen Chou
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  4. Kerstin Höner zu Bentrup
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  8. Lisa A. Morici
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Contributions

YW, KH, JF, JB, and LM conceived and designed the experiments. YW, JH, and CC performed the experiments. YW, CC, JB, and WW analyzed the data. YW and LM wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Lisa A. Morici.

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Wang, Y., Hoffmann, J.P., Chou, CW. et al. Burkholderia thailandensis outer membrane vesicles exert antimicrobial activity against drug-resistant and competitor microbial species. J Microbiol. 58, 550–562 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-020-0028-1

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