Role of interspecies interactions in dual-species biofilms developed in vitro by uropathogens isolated from polymicrobial urinary catheter-associated bacteriuria

Abstract

Most catheter-associated urinary tract infections are polymicrobial. Here, uropathogen interactions in dual-species biofilms were studied. The dual-species associations selected based on their prevalence in clinical settings were Klebsiella pneumoniae–Escherichia coli, E. coli–Enterococcus faecalis, K. pneumoniae–E. faecalis, and K. pneumoniae–Proteus mirabilis. All species developed single-species biofilms in artificial urine. The ability of K. pneumoniae to form biofilms was not affected by E. coli or E. faecalis co-inoculation, but was impaired by P. mirabilis. Conversely, P. mirabilis established a biofilm when co-inoculated with K. pneumoniae. Additionally, E. coli persistence in biofilms was hampered by K. pneumoniae but not by E. faecalis. Interestingly, E. coli, but not K. pneumoniae, partially inhibited E. faecalis attachment to the surface and retarded biofilm development. The findings reveal bacterial interactions between uropathogens in dual-species biofilms ranged from affecting initial adhesion to outcompeting one bacterial species, depending on the identity of the partners involved.

Keywords:

• Interspecies interactions
• dual-species biofilms
• urinary catheters
• uropathogens

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Claudia Garbasz, Head of the Microbiology Service at the Hospital General de Agudos ‘Dr I. Pirovano’ (Buenos Aires city, Argentina) for her valuable help with the epidemiological study and for providing the clinical bacterial isolates.