Directional Colony Growth of Cupriavidus toward Sphingomonads

Abstract

Bacterial communities often originate from physical encounters between distinct species on solid surfaces; however, the mechanisms underlying these initial interactions remain unclear. The γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH; a toxic recalcitrant insecticide)-degrading consortium includes the surface-motile bacterium Cupriavidus sp. strain TKC and the γ-HCH-degrading Sphingobium sp. strain TKS. During a co-culture on R2A agar, TKC colonies exhibited directional colony growth (DCG), characterized by asymmetric expansion toward neighboring TKS colonies. When TKC colonies eventually overgrew TKS colonies, non-motile TKS cells were passively carried along the expanding TKC front, indicating that DCG facilitates the physical association and surface dispersal of Sphingobium cells. DCG activity was also observed against various strains of Sphingobium, Sphingomonas, and Novosphingobium, whereas extremely weak or no DCG activity was observed toward other bacterial groups, including representatives of α-, β-, and γ-proteobacteria as well as actinobacteria. These results indicate that TKC exhibits DCG selectively toward sphingomonads, recognizing taxon-specific cues rather than responding indiscriminately to neighboring colonies. Among the components tested, sphingosine reproducibly triggered DCG in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis in Sphingobium with myriocin markedly suppressed the inducing effect. These results highlight the sphingosine-mediated induction of DCG as a molecular mechanism underlying the initial step in the spatial organization of bacterial communities on solid surfaces.