Cargando…

LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species

Bacteria communicate via small diffusible molecules to mediate group-coordinated behavior, a process designated as quorum sensing. The basic molecular quorum sensing system of Gram-negative bacteria consists of a LuxI-type autoinducer synthase producing acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) as signaling m...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Brameyer, Sophie, Kresovic, Darko, Bode, Helge B., Heermann, Ralf
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4235431/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25478328
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00166
_version_ 1782345027070984192
author Brameyer, Sophie
Kresovic, Darko
Bode, Helge B.
Heermann, Ralf
author_facet Brameyer, Sophie
Kresovic, Darko
Bode, Helge B.
Heermann, Ralf
author_sort Brameyer, Sophie
collection PubMed
description Bacteria communicate via small diffusible molecules to mediate group-coordinated behavior, a process designated as quorum sensing. The basic molecular quorum sensing system of Gram-negative bacteria consists of a LuxI-type autoinducer synthase producing acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) as signaling molecules, and a LuxR-type receptor detecting the AHLs to control expression of specific genes. However, many proteobacteria possess one or more unpaired LuxR-type receptors that lack a cognate LuxI-like synthase, referred to as LuxR solos. The enteric and insect pathogenic bacteria of the genus Photorhabdus harbor an extraordinarily high number of LuxR solos, more than any other known bacteria, and all lack a LuxI-like synthase. Here, we focus on the presence and the different types of LuxR solos in the three known Photorhabdus species using bioinformatics analyses. Generally, the N-terminal signal-binding domain (SBD) of LuxR-type receptors sensing AHLs have a motif of six conserved amino acids that is important for binding and specificity of the signaling molecule. However, this motif is altered in the majority of the Photorhabdus-specific LuxR solos, suggesting the use of other signaling molecules than AHLs. Furthermore, all Photorhabdus species contain at least one LuxR solo with an intact AHL-binding motif, which might allow the ability to sense AHLs of other bacteria. Moreover, all three species have high AHL-degrading activity caused by the presence of different AHL-lactonases and AHL-acylases, revealing a high quorum quenching activity against other bacteria. However, the majority of the other LuxR solos in Photorhabdus have a N-terminal so-called PAS4-domain instead of an AHL-binding domain, containing different amino acid motifs than the AHL-sensors, which potentially allows the recognition of a highly variable range of signaling molecules that can be sensed apart from AHLs. These PAS4-LuxR solos are proposed to be involved in host sensing, and therefore in inter-kingdom signaling. Overall, Photorhabdus species are perfect model organisms to study bacterial communication via LuxR solos and their role for a symbiotic and pathogenic life style.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4235431
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2014
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-42354312014-12-04 LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species Brameyer, Sophie Kresovic, Darko Bode, Helge B. Heermann, Ralf Front Cell Infect Microbiol Microbiology Bacteria communicate via small diffusible molecules to mediate group-coordinated behavior, a process designated as quorum sensing. The basic molecular quorum sensing system of Gram-negative bacteria consists of a LuxI-type autoinducer synthase producing acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) as signaling molecules, and a LuxR-type receptor detecting the AHLs to control expression of specific genes. However, many proteobacteria possess one or more unpaired LuxR-type receptors that lack a cognate LuxI-like synthase, referred to as LuxR solos. The enteric and insect pathogenic bacteria of the genus Photorhabdus harbor an extraordinarily high number of LuxR solos, more than any other known bacteria, and all lack a LuxI-like synthase. Here, we focus on the presence and the different types of LuxR solos in the three known Photorhabdus species using bioinformatics analyses. Generally, the N-terminal signal-binding domain (SBD) of LuxR-type receptors sensing AHLs have a motif of six conserved amino acids that is important for binding and specificity of the signaling molecule. However, this motif is altered in the majority of the Photorhabdus-specific LuxR solos, suggesting the use of other signaling molecules than AHLs. Furthermore, all Photorhabdus species contain at least one LuxR solo with an intact AHL-binding motif, which might allow the ability to sense AHLs of other bacteria. Moreover, all three species have high AHL-degrading activity caused by the presence of different AHL-lactonases and AHL-acylases, revealing a high quorum quenching activity against other bacteria. However, the majority of the other LuxR solos in Photorhabdus have a N-terminal so-called PAS4-domain instead of an AHL-binding domain, containing different amino acid motifs than the AHL-sensors, which potentially allows the recognition of a highly variable range of signaling molecules that can be sensed apart from AHLs. These PAS4-LuxR solos are proposed to be involved in host sensing, and therefore in inter-kingdom signaling. Overall, Photorhabdus species are perfect model organisms to study bacterial communication via LuxR solos and their role for a symbiotic and pathogenic life style. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-11-18 /pmc/articles/PMC4235431/ /pubmed/25478328 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00166 Text en Copyright © 2014 Brameyer, Kresovic, Bode and Heermann. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Brameyer, Sophie
Kresovic, Darko
Bode, Helge B.
Heermann, Ralf
LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species
title LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species
title_full LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species
title_fullStr LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species
title_full_unstemmed LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species
title_short LuxR solos in Photorhabdus species
title_sort luxr solos in photorhabdus species
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4235431/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25478328
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00166
work_keys_str_mv AT brameyersophie luxrsolosinphotorhabdusspecies
AT kresovicdarko luxrsolosinphotorhabdusspecies
AT bodehelgeb luxrsolosinphotorhabdusspecies
AT heermannralf luxrsolosinphotorhabdusspecies