Identification of Functional LsrB-Like Autoinducer-2 Receptors
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Although a variety of bacterial species have been reported to use the interspecies communication signal autoinducer-2 (AI-2) to regulate multiple behaviors, the molecular mechanisms of AI-2 recognition and signal transduction remain poorly understood. To date, two types of AI-2 receptors have been identified: LuxP, present in Vibrio spp., and LsrB, first identified in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. In S. Typhimurium, LsrB is the ligand binding protein of a transport system that enables the internalization of AI-2. Here, using both sequence analysis and structure prediction, we establish a set of criteria for identifying functional AI-2 receptors. We test our predictions experimentally, assaying key species for their abilities to import AI-2 in vivo, and test their LsrB orthologs for AI-2 binding in vitro. Using these experimental approaches, we were able to identify AI-2 receptors in organisms belonging to phylogenetically distinct families such as the Enterobacteriaceae, Rhizobiaceae, and Bacillaceae. Phylogenetic analysis of LsrB orthologs indicates that this pattern could result from one single origin of the functional LsrB gene in a gammaproteobacterium, suggesting possible posterior independent events of lateral gene transfer to the Alphaproteobacteria and Firmicutes. Finally, we used mutagenesis to show that two AI-2-interacting residues are essential for the AI-2 binding ability. These two residues are conserved in the binding sites of all the functional AI-2 binding proteins but not in the non-AI-2-binding orthologs. Together, these results strongly support our ability to identify functional LsrB-type AI-2 receptors, an important step in investigations of this interspecies signal.
Source: Journal of Bacteriology
DOI: 10.1128/jb.00976-09
Authors: Catarina S. Pereira, Anna K. de Regt, Patrícia H. Brito, Stephen T. Miller, Karina B. Xavier
Institutions: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Swarthmore College
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: MULTILOCUS APPROACH TO A GREAT SPECIATOR: THE SPECIATION HISTORY OF THE WHITE-EYES ZOSTEROPS [GRISEOTINCTUS] SPECIES COMPLEX IN THE SOLOMON ARCHIPELAGO, Characterization of receptors of the bacterial signaling molecule autoinducer-2, Identificação e caracterização de sistemas de detecção de quórum envolvidos na comunicação entre diferentes espécies de bactérias, AI-2 QUORUM SENSING: ITS FUNCTION IN BACTERIAL INTER-SPECIES COMMUNICATION
OpenAlex ID: W2011102133