Author(s)

Huining Lu

Corresponding Author

Huining Lu

Abstract

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) play important roles in bacterial surface motilities for a variety of bacterial species. However, the role of EPS in inter-species interactions remains unclear. In this study, by employing high-throughput bacterial tracking techniques, we investigated the effect of EPS of M. xanthus (MxEPS) on the twitching movement of P. aeruginosa cells. Our results showed MxEPS exhibits ‘glue’ effect, and Psl plays significant role in MxEPS-mediated cell-surface interactions. Our study shed light on our further understanding of the role of EPS in the species-specific interactions when multiple species coexist.

Keywords

M xanthus; aeruginosa; sl; EPS; witching motility