Frequency modulation of a bacterial quorum sensing response
In quorum sensing, bacteria secrete or release small molecules into the environment that, once they reach a certain threshold, trigger a behavioural change in the population. As the concentration of these so-called autoinducers is supposed to reflect population density, they were originally assum...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Philipps-Universität Marburg
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | PDF Full Text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | In quorum sensing, bacteria secrete or release small molecules into the environment that,
once they reach a certain threshold, trigger a behavioural change in the population. As the
concentration of these so-called autoinducers is supposed to reflect population density, they
were originally assumed to be continuously produced by all cells in a population. However,
here we show that in the α-proteobacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti expression of the autoinducer
synthase gene is realized in asynchronous stochastic pulses that result from scarcity
and, presumably, low binding affinity of the key activator. Physiological cues modulate pulse
frequency, and pulse frequency in turn modulates the velocity with which autoinducer levels
in the environment reach the threshold to trigger the quorum sensing response. We therefore
propose that frequency-modulated pulsing in S. meliloti represents the molecular mechanism
for a collective decision-making process in which each cell’s physiological state and need for
behavioural adaptation is encoded in the pulse frequency with which it expresses the
autoinducer synthase gene; the pulse frequencies of all members of the population are then
integrated in the common pool of autoinducers, and only once this vote crosses the
threshold, the response behaviour is initiated. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der UB Marburg. |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-022-30307-6 |