Quorum sensing controls Vibrio cholerae multicellular aggregate formation
- Princeton University, United States
Abstract
Bacteria communicate and collectively regulate gene expression using a process called quorum sensing (QS). QS relies on group-wide responses to signal molecules called autoinducers. Here, we show that QS activates a new program of multicellularity in Vibrio cholerae. This program, which we term aggregation, is distinct from the canonical surface-biofilm formation program, which QS represses. Aggregation is induced by autoinducers, occurs rapidly in cell suspensions, and does not require cell-division, features strikingly dissimilar from those characteristic of V. cholerae biofilm formation. Extracellular DNA limits aggregate size, but is not sufficient to drive aggregation. A mutagenesis screen identifies genes required for aggregate formation, revealing proteins involved in V. cholerae intestinal colonization, stress response, and a protein that distinguishes the current V. cholerae pandemic strain from earlier pandemic strains. We suggest that QS-controlled aggregate formation is important for V. cholerae to successfully transit between the marine niche and the human host.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for all quantitative data.
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Funding
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Bonnie L Bassler
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM082938)
- Ned S Wingreen
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- Bonnie L Bassler
National Science Foundation (MCB-1713731)
- Bonnie L Bassler
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2R37GM065859)
- Bonnie L Bassler
National Science Foundation (PHY-1734030)
- Matthew Jemielita
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2018, Jemielita et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Quorum sensing controls Vibrio cholerae multicellular aggregate formation
eLife 7:e42057.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.42057
