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PMID: 18808382 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

A small-RNA-mediated negative feedback loop controls quorum-sensing dynamics in Vibrio harveyi.

Molecular microbiology ·Vol. 70 ·No. 4 ·2008-11-00 ·Pages 896-907

Tu KC, Waters CM, Svenningsen SL, Bassler BL

Abstract

The bioluminescent marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi uses a cell-to-cell communication process called quorum sensing (QS) to co-ordinate behaviours in response to changes in population density. QS is accomplished through the secretion and detection of extracellular signalling molecules called autoinducers. At the centre of the V. harveyi QS circuit are five small regulatory RNAs called Qrr1-5 which destabilize the mRNA of luxR, encoding LuxR, the master transcriptional regulator of QS target genes. Here we show that LuxR directly activates transcription of qrr2, qrr3 and qrr4, leading to the rapid downregulation of luxR. The LuxR-binding sites in the promoters of qrr2, qrr3 and qrr4 were identified and mutated to determine the consequences of this regulatory loop on QS dynamics. Disruption of the loop delays the transition from high to low cell density, and more significantly, decreases the cell density at which the population reaches a quorum. Our results suggest that feedback is essential for optimizing the dynamics of the transitions between individual and group behaviours.

MeSH Terms
Bacterial Proteins/genetics,metabolism DNA, Bacterial/genetics Down-Regulation Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay Feedback, Physiological Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial Genes, Bacterial Population Density Promoter Regions, Genetic Protein Binding Quorum Sensing RNA, Bacterial/metabolism RNA, Messenger/metabolism Repressor Proteins/genetics,metabolism Trans-Activators/genetics,metabolism Transcription, Genetic Vibrio/genetics,metabolism
Chemicals
Bacterial Proteins DNA, Bacterial RNA, Bacterial RNA, Messenger Repressor Proteins Trans-Activators LuxR autoinducer binding proteins
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Tu Kimberly C
Department of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Princeton, NJ 08544-1014, USA.
Waters Christopher M
Svenningsen Sine L
Bassler Bonnie L
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Article Info
Journal
Molecular microbiology
Abbr.
Mol Microbiol
ISSN
1365-2958
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06452.x
Published
2008-11-00
Epub
2008-00-18
Pages
896-907
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8712028
PMCID
PMC2680268
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM065859 · United States
Howard Hughes Medical Institute · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06452.x PMC Full Text View journal details
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