Liu Yang, Ahator Stephen Dela, Wang Huishan, Feng Qishun, Xu Yinuo, Li Chuhao, Zhou Xiaofan, Zhang Lian-Hui
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, Integrative Microbiology Research Centre, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Madrid, Spain.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Apr 12;13:821895. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.821895. eCollection 2022.
The strain PAO1 has routinely been used as a laboratory model for quorum sensing (QS). However, the microevolution of laboratory strains resulting in genetic and phenotypic variations have caused inconsistencies in QS research. To investigate the underlying causes of these variations, we analyzed 5 PAO1 sublines from our laboratory using a combination of phenotypic characterization, high throughput genome sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis. The major phenotypic variations among the sublines spanned across the levels of QS signals and virulence factors such as pyocyanin and elastase. Furthermore, the sublines exhibited distinct variations in motility and biofilm formation. Most of the phenotypic variations were mapped to mutations in the and , which are key components of the QS circuit. By introducing these mutations in the subline PAO1-E, which is devoid of such mutations, we confirmed their influence on QS, virulence, motility, and biofilm formation. The findings further highlight a possible divergent regulatory mechanism between the LasR and MexT in the . The results of our study reveal the effects of microevolution on the reproducibility of most research data from QS studies and further highlight as a key component of the QS circuit of .
菌株PAO1常被用作群体感应（QS）的实验室模型。然而，实验室菌株的微进化导致遗传和表型变异，这在QS研究中造成了不一致。为了探究这些变异的潜在原因，我们结合表型特征分析、高通量基因组测序和生物信息学分析，对我们实验室的5个PAO1亚系进行了分析。亚系间的主要表型变异涵盖了QS信号以及绿脓菌素和弹性蛋白酶等毒力因子的水平。此外，亚系在运动性和生物膜形成方面表现出明显差异。大多数表型变异被定位到QS回路的关键组成部分LasR和MexT中的突变。通过在没有此类突变的PAO1-E亚系中引入这些突变，我们证实了它们对QS、毒力、运动性和生物膜形成的影响。这些发现进一步突出了LasR和MexT在PAO1中可能存在的不同调控机制。我们的研究结果揭示了微进化对QS研究中大多数研究数据可重复性的影响，并进一步突出了LasR和MexT作为PAO1的QS回路的关键组成部分。
