Abstract
Metformin is a biguanide molecule that is widely prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Although it is known that metformin promotes the lifespan by altering intestinal microorganism metabolism, how metformin influences and alters the physiological behavior of microorganisms remains unclear. Here we studied the effect of metformin on the behavior alterations of the model organism Escherichia coli (E. coli), including changes in chemotaxis and flagellar motility that plays an important role in bacterial life. It was found that metformin was sensed as a repellent to E. coli by tsr chemoreceptors. Moreover, we investigated the chemotactic response of E. coli cultured with metformin to two typical attractants, glucose and α-methyl-DL-aspartate (MeAsp), finding that metformin prolonged the chemotactic recovery time to the attractants, followed by the recovery time increasing with the concentration of stimulus. Metformin also inhibited the flagellar motility of E. coli including the flagellar motor rotation and cell swimming. The inhibition was due to the reduction of torque generated by the flagellar motor. Our discovery that metformin alters the behavior of chemotaxis and flagellar motility of E. coli could provide potential implications for the effect of metformin on other microorganisms.
Highlights
Metformin is the most common prescribed drug in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic syndromes (Forslund et al, 2015; Wu et al, 2017; Fang et al, 2018)
It was found that metformin alters folate and methionine metabolism of the gut bacterium Escherichia coli, which was the only single microbe that exists in the gut of C. elegans, to promote the lifespan of C. elegans (Cabreiro et al, 2013)
The chemotactic response tendency of E. coli to metformin was in contrast with MeAsp, suggesting that metformin was a repellent to E. coli
Summary
Metformin is the most common prescribed drug in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic syndromes (Forslund et al, 2015; Wu et al, 2017; Fang et al, 2018). It was found that metformin alters folate and methionine metabolism of the gut bacterium Escherichia coli, which was the only single microbe that exists in the gut of C. elegans, to promote the lifespan of C. elegans (Cabreiro et al, 2013). Metformin was found functioned in the adverse gastrointestinal effect involved in the genus Escherichia (McCreight et al, 2016). These findings reveal that metformin affects the intestinal microorganisms
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