Diverse Bacterial Properties Influence Dispersal Along Fungal Networks

Bacterial–fungal interactions are prevalent in microbial communities, and fungi often facilitate bacterial dispersal along networks created by fungal hyphae. Using a microfluidic device, we examined how diverse bacterial species disperse in monoculture versus travel in coculture with Aspergillus flavus. Most of the bacteria traveled further when in coculture, although this was not absolute. Two bacteria showing significant dispersal rates only in coculture were the human pathogens Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. Mechanistically, L. monocytogenes dispersal required flagella, with dispersal impaired in flagellar mutants but enhanced in ∆mogR strains that upregulate flagellar expression. In contrast, the non-flagellar bacterium S. aureus exhibited a unique, wave-like dispersal pattern along the hyphae, a phenomenon that was abolished in agr quorum-sensing mutants deficient in phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs). In a triculture of L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and A. flavus, L. monocytogenes limited S. aureus dispersal along the fungal hyphae; however, this inhibition was dependent on an intact L. monocytogenes quorum system. Our findings reveal that bacterial motility on fungal networks arises from diverse, species-specific mechanisms, including flagella, transcriptional regulation, potential quorum-sensing-mediated interactions, as well as other notable dispersal phenomena that warrant further investigation.