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The virtue of temperance: built‐in negative regulators of quorum sensing in Pseudomonas
Author(s) -
Venturi Vittorio,
Rampioni Giordano,
Pongor Sándor,
Leoni Livia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07890.x
Subject(s) - quorum sensing , biology , repressor , regulator , pseudomonas aeruginosa , pseudomonas , vibrio , gene , homoserine , bacteria , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , virulence , gene expression
Summary Many bacteria are now believed to produce small signal molecules in order to communicate in a process called quorum sensing (QS), which mediates cooperative traits and a co‐ordinated behaviour. Pseudomonads have been extensively studied for their QS response highlighting that it plays a major role in determining their lifestyle. The main QS signal molecules produced by Pseudomonas belong to the family of N ‐acyl‐homoserine lactones (AHLs); these are synthesized by a LuxI‐family synthase and sensed by a LuxR‐family regulator. Most often in Pseudomonas , repressor genes intergenically located between luxI and luxR form an integral part of QS system. Recent studies have highlighted an important role of these repressors (called RsaL and RsaM) in containing the QS response within cost‐effective levels; this is central for pseudomonads as they have very versatile genomes allowing them to live in constantly changing and highly dynamic environments. This review focuses on the role played by RsaL and RsaM repressors and discusses the important implications of this control of the QS response.