Author(s)

SÉGOLÈNE DEPAYRAS, TATIANA KONDAKOVA, NADINE MERLET-MACHOUR, HERMANN J. HEIPIEPER, MAGALIE BARREAU, CHLOÉ CATOVIC, MARC FEUILLOLEY, NICOLE ORANGE & CÉCILE DUCLAIROIR-POC

Abstract

Nowadays air pollution is increasing due to anthropogenic activity. Among all air pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOx) such as NO  are predominant. It is well known that those compounds exhibit direct toxic effects on human health. However, microorganisms are also exposed to them, but the effect of NOx on the virulence of air microbiota is still poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the impact of NO on the adaptability and virulence of an airborne strain of P. fluorescens, MFA76a, by exposition of this strain to 45 ppm of NO₂. The growth kinetics and cultivability were analysed. A decrease of cultivability coupled with an increase of the lag phase was observed suggesting a potential toxicity of NO₂. Since NOx particularly target lipids, the membrane permeability was assessed thanks to Live Dead tests and confocal microscopy. A significant alteration of membrane permeability was observed. Furthermore, more abundant bacterial aggregates were detected compared to the control. Thus, a lipidomic study was performed using MALDI-TOF MS Imaging coupled to HPTLC. Interestingly, bacteria exposed to NO  were lacking one putative glycerophospholipid molecule. In agreement with a previous study from Kondakova et al., these data demonstrate the adaptation potential of P. fluorescens MFAF76a to an air pollutant such as NO

Keywords

air pollution, antibiotic resistance, membrane, adaptation, P. fluorescens, toxicity