LPS and quorum sensing protect Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from phagocytosis and destruction by Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae
Abstract
Free-living amoebae like Dictyostelium discoideum and environmental bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa are engaged in complex predator-prey interactions. Amoeba can notably ingest and kill bacteria. In this study, we report that three different strains of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are protected from amoebal phagocytosis. Analysis of P. aeruginosa mutants revealed that OSA-type lipopolysaccharides (LPS) allow these P. aeruginosa strains to escape phagocytosis by amoebae. Amoebae can also kill extracellularly un-ingested P. aeruginosa bacteria. Our results indicate that induction of the Las quorum sensing (QS) makes P. aeruginosa resistant to reactive oxygen species, to bacteriolytic factors secreted by D. discoideum, and ultimately to extracellular destruction by amoebae. Together, these observations suggest that LPS and QS probably play a key role in P. aeruginosa escape strategies against phagocytic amoebae in the environment and shed new light on the transition of infectious P. aeruginosa from the environment to the human body.
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BibTeX
@article{ayadi2026quorum,
title = {{LPS and quorum sensing protect Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from phagocytosis and destruction by Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae}},
author = {Imen Ayadi and Erwann Pain and Joseph Oddy and Otmane Lamrabet and Hitakshi Vijay and Thilo Koehler and Tania Distler and Alexandre Persat and Raphael Munoz-Ruiz and Pierre Cosson},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117912},
url = {https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03295-5},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - LPS and quorum sensing protect Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from phagocytosis and destruction by Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae
AU - Imen Ayadi
AU - Erwann Pain
AU - Joseph Oddy
AU - Otmane Lamrabet
AU - Hitakshi Vijay
AU - Thilo Koehler
AU - Tania Distler
AU - Alexandre Persat
AU - Raphael Munoz-Ruiz
AU - Pierre Cosson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117912
UR - https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03295-5
AB - Free-living amoebae like Dictyostelium discoideum and environmental bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa are engaged in complex predator-prey interactions. Amoeba can notably ingest and kill bacteria. In this study, we report that three different strains of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are protected from amoebal phagocytosis. Analysis of P. aeruginosa mutants revealed that OSA-type lipopolysaccharides (LPS) allow these P. aeruginosa strains to escape phagocytosis by amoebae. Amoebae can also kill extracellularly un-ingested P. aeruginosa bacteria. Our results indicate that induction of the Las quorum sensing (QS) makes P. aeruginosa resistant to reactive oxygen species, to bacteriolytic factors secreted by D. discoideum, and ultimately to extracellular destruction by amoebae. Together, these observations suggest that LPS and QS probably play a key role in P. aeruginosa escape strategies against phagocytic amoebae in the environment and shed new light on the transition of infectious P. aeruginosa from the environment to the human body.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -