A Metabolic Trade-Off Modulates Policing of Social Cheaters in Populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses quorum sensing (QS) to regulate the production of public goods such as the secreted protease elastase. P. aeruginosa requires the LasI–LasR QS circuit to induce elastase and enable growth on casein as the sole carbon and energy source. The LasI–LasR system also induces a second QS circuit, the RhlI–RhlR system. During growth on casein, LasR-mutant social cheaters emerge, and this can lead to a population collapse. In a minimal medium containing ammonium sulfate as a nitrogen source, populations do not collapse, and cheaters and cooperators reach a stable equilibrium; however, without ammonium sulfate, cheaters overtake the cooperators and populations collapse. We show that ammonium sulfate enhances the activity of the RhlI–RhlR system in casein medium and this leads to increased production of cyanide, which serves to control levels of cheaters. This enhancement of cyanide production occurs because of a trade-off in the metabolism of glycine: exogenous ammonium ion inhibits the transformation of glycine to 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate through a reduction in the expression of the glycine cleavage genes gcvP1 and gcvP2, thereby increasing the availability of glycine as a substrate for RhlR-regulated hydrogen cyanide synthesis. Thus, environmental ammonia enhances cyanide production and stabilizes QS in populations of P. aeruginosa.