Significance and Roles of Proteus spp. Bacteria in Natural Environments.

Dominika Drzewiecka

doi:10.1007/s00248-015-0720-6

Abstract

Proteus spp. bacteria were first described in 1885 by Gustav Hauser, who had revealed their feature of intensive swarming growth. Currently, the genus is divided into Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus penneri, Proteus hauseri, and three unnamed genomospecies 4, 5, and 6 and consists of 80 O-antigenic serogroups. The bacteria are known to be human opportunistic pathogens, isolated from urine, wounds, and other clinical sources. It is postulated that intestines are a reservoir of these proteolytic organisms. Many wild and domestic animals may be hosts of Proteus spp. bacteria, which are commonly known to play a role of parasites or commensals. However, interesting examples of their symbiotic relationships with higher organisms have also been described. Proteus spp. bacteria present in soil or water habitats are often regarded as indicators of fecal pollution, posing a threat of poisoning when the contaminated water or seafood is consumed. The health risk may also be connected with drug-resistant strains sourcing from intestines. Positive aspects of the bacteria presence in water and soil are connected with exceptional features displayed by autochthonic Proteus spp. strains detected in these environments. These rods acquire various metabolic abilities allowing their adaptation to different environmental conditions, such as high concentrations of heavy metals or toxic substances, which may be exploited as sources of energy and nutrition by the bacteria. The Proteus spp. abilities to tolerate or utilize polluting compounds as well as promote plant growth provide a possibility of employing these microorganisms in bioremediation and environmental protection.

Highlights

Proteus Like in Homer’s Poem...Microorganisms belonging to the genus Proteus were first described in 1885 by a German microbiologist Gustav Hauser, who had revealed their ability to swarm on solid surfaces
Some authors [5, 39, 82] emphasize the fact that marine environment seems to be a reservoir of genes responsible for the antibiotic resistance of polluting bacteria, as many antibiotic-resistant strains, including Proteus spp., are isolated from water and sea animals
Ibrahim et al [58] studying soil samples collected from the rhizosphere of legumes planted on crude-oil-contaminated soil in Kaduna, Nigeria, found P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris strains as belonging to the most active crude oil degraders among the several isolated species, not displaying biosurfactant production

Summary

Introduction

Microorganisms belonging to the genus Proteus were first described in 1885 by a German microbiologist Gustav Hauser, who had revealed their ability to swarm on solid surfaces. Hauser described two species of the genus: Proteus vulgaris and Proteus mirabilis [81]. The swarming ability, connected with a change of short swimmer cells into long, poli-nucleous and hyper-flagellated swarmer cells, is especially visible in the second species. This is a possible source of the name of P. mirabilis, which in Latin means amazing, marvelous, splendid. The phenomenon described by Dienes in 1946 consists in forming boundaries between the swarming growth of different strains, while isogenic strains merge with each other (Fig. 1). The formation of the boundaries (Dienes lines) may depend on different profiles of produced proticines

Drzewiecka

Findings

Conclusion