Department of Chemistry and Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3400, USA.
ACS Chem Biol. 2012 Aug 17;7(8):1331-6. doi: 10.1021/cb300215t. Epub 2012 May 30.
Bacteria use small molecules to assess the density and identity of nearby organisms and formulate a response. This process, called quorum sensing (QS), commonly regulates bioluminescence, biofilm formation, and virulence. Vibrio harveyi have three described QS circuits. Each involves the synthesis of a molecule that regulates phosphorylation of its cognate receptor kinase. Each receptor exchanges phosphate with a common phosphorelay protein, LuxU, which ultimately regulates bioluminescence. Here, we show that another small molecule, nitric oxide (NO), participates in QS through LuxU. V. harveyi display a NO concentration-dependent increase in bioluminescence that is regulated by an hnoX gene. We demonstrate that H-NOX is a NO sensor and NO/H-NOX regulates phosphorylation of a kinase that transfers phosphate to LuxU. This study reveals the discovery of a fourth QS pathway in V. harveyi and suggests that bacteria use QS to integrate not only the density of bacteria but also other diverse information about their environment into decisions about gene expression.
细菌利用小分子来评估周围生物的密度和身份，并制定相应的反应。这个过程被称为群体感应（QS），通常调节生物发光、生物膜形成和毒力。 Harveyi 弧菌有三种描述的 QS 回路。每个回路都涉及一种分子的合成，这种分子调节其同源受体激酶的磷酸化。每个受体与一种共同的磷酸传递蛋白 LuxU 交换磷酸，最终调节生物发光。在这里，我们表明另一种小分子，一氧化氮（NO），通过 LuxU 参与 QS。 Harveyi 弧菌表现出与 NO 浓度相关的生物发光增加，该增加受 hnoX 基因调控。我们证明 H-NOX 是 NO 传感器，NO/H-NOX 调节将磷酸转移到 LuxU 的激酶的磷酸化。这项研究揭示了 Harveyi 弧菌中第四种 QS 途径的发现，并表明细菌利用 QS 将细菌的密度等其他有关其环境的信息整合到基因表达的决策中。
