3 research outputs found
Discovery of a Nitric Oxide Responsive Quorum Sensing Circuit in <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>
Group
behavior of the human pathogen <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>, including
biofilm formation and virulence factor secretion, is
mediated by a process known as quorum sensing. Quorum sensing is a
way by which bacteria coordinate gene expression in response to population
density through the production, secretion, and detection of small
molecules called autoinducers. Four autoinducer-mediated receptor
histidine kinases have been implicated in quorum sensing through the
phosphotransfer protein LuxU: CqsS, LuxP/Q, CqsR, and VpsS (Vc1445).
Of these receptor kinases, VpsS is predicted to be cytosolic, and
its cognate autoinducer is currently unknown. In this study, we demonstrate
that the nitric oxide-bound complex of a member of the recently discovered
family of nitric oxide-responsive hemoproteins called NosP (VcNosP
is encoded by Vc1444; this gene product is also known as VpsV) inhibits
the autophosphorylation activity of VpsS and thus phosphate flow to
LuxU. Therefore, we propose that VpsS contributes to the regulation
of quorum sensing in a nitric-oxide-dependent manner through its interaction
with NosP