Interactions between Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus determined by genome-wide association analysis

Abstract:

[Objective] We studied the interactions in a co-culture of two bacteria. [Methods] By pairwise co-culturing of 36 Escherichia coli and 36 Staphylococcus aureus strains, we monitored the growth of each species in an interaction environment. We identified numerous Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) by whole-genome sequencing used as genetic markers to predict variations in phenotypic traits. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was applied to identify loci that controlled competition between the two species. [Results] In E. coli, 162 significant SNPs affected the change of maximum growth rate by comparing initials strains with those grown in co-culture, and 36 significant SNPs affected the change of maximum growth rate comparing monoculture and co-culture strains. Five of the significant E. coli genes we identified after annotation this time were also reported in other evolutionary studies. We also identified 85 significant SNPs in S. aureus that affected the change of maximum growth rate by comparing initial strains with those grown in monoculture. About the change of bacterial numbers, we found that 706 significant SNPs were associated in E. coli and 129 in S. aureus. Thirteen of the E. coli significant genes in this study were also verified in previous evolutionary reports. [Conclusion] We found several significant genes both in monoculture and co-culture affecting the interaction of E. coli and S. aureus. GWAS has the potential to study interspecific interactions of bacteria.