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PMID: 11930013 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Genetic control of quorum-sensing signal turnover in Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 99 ·No. 7 ·2002-04-02 ·Pages 4638-43

Zhang HB, Wang LH, Zhang LH

Abstract

A signal turnover system is an essential component of many genetic regulatory mechanisms. The best-known example is the ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation system that exists in many organisms. We found that Agrobacterium tumefaciens adopts a unique signal turnover system to control exiting from a quorum-sensing mode. A. tumefaciens regulates Ti plasmid conjugal transfer by a quorum-sensing signal, N-3-oxo-octanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC8HSL), also known as Agrobacterium autoinducer. By using Tn5 mutagenesis and a functional cloning approach, we identified two genes that are involved in switching from a conjugal quorum-sensing mode to a nonconjugal mode at the onset of stationary phase. First, we located attJ, which codes for an IclR-type suppressor that regulates the second gene attM. The latter encodes a homologue of N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-lactonase. Mass spectrometry analysis shows that the enzyme encoded by attM is an AHL-lactonase that hydrolyzes the lactone ring of 3OC8HSL. In wild-type A. tumefaciens, attM expression is initially suppressed by AttJ but significantly elevated at the stationary phase accompanied a sharp decline in 3OC8HSL. DNA gel retardation analysis shows that AttJ specifically binds to the promoter that controls AHL-lactonase expression. Mutation of attJ resulted in constitutive production of AHL-lactonase that abolishes 3OC8HSL accumulation and Ti plasmid transfer. These data suggest that A. tumefaciens has a sophisticated multicomponent quorum-sensing signal turnover system, allowing the cell to sense a change in growth and adjust cellular activities accordingly.

MeSH Terms
4-Butyrolactone/analogs & derivatives,metabolism Agrobacterium tumefaciens/genetics,metabolism Base Sequence Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases/genetics Cloning, Molecular Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial Molecular Sequence Data Operon Signal Transduction
Chemicals
homoserine lactone Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases N-acyl homoserine lactonase 4-Butyrolactone
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Zhang Hai-Bao
Laboratory of Biosignals and Bioengineering, Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, Singapore 117604.
Wang Lian-Hui
Zhang Lian-Hui
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.022056699
Published
2002-04-02
Pages
4638-43
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC123700
Subset
IM
Databases
GENBANK
AY052389
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.022056699 PMC Full Text View journal details
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