Role of biogene polyamines in mycobacterial sliding motility

Effects of biogene polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine, cadaverine) on sliding motility of Mycobacterium smegmatis were studied here. We showed that polyamines had no toxic effects on M. smegmatis cells grown in a liquid medium. However, spermidine or spermine supplemented to nutritional medium cause statistically significant lowering in a size of sliding colonies. Furthermore, this polyamine effect is directly dependent on polyamine concentration. In spite of high resistance level of microorganisms forming sliding colony to quinolone levofloxacin, significant differences in the levels of antibiotic susceptibility between cells localized in different zones of colony were not observed. Sublethal antibiotic concentration, while it is added to medium, decreases the size of sliding colony. Medium supplementation with cadaverine under these conditions promotes an increase in colony diameter, however, spermine or spermidine have an inverse effect.