LC-MS/MS quantification of bacterial and fungal signal peptides via direct injection: a case study of cross-kingdom communication.

Bacteria and yeast use secreted signal peptides, also known as pheromones, for cell-cell communication within their respective species. Recently, genetic modification has allowed for the extension and exploitation of this type of communication, to communication between organisms from different species and even from different kingdoms. This innovative approach is intended to allow for the large-scale production of specific compounds for applications in medicine and biotechnology while producing reduced amounts of by-products.

Controlled interkingdom cell-cell communication between and using quorum-sensing peptides.

Understanding communication among microorganisms through the array of signal molecules and establishing controlled signal transfer between different species is a major goal of the future of biotechnology, and controlled multispecies bioreactor cultivations will open a wide range of applications. In this study, we used two quorum-sensing peptides from - namely, the competence and sporulation factor (CSF) and (PhrF)-to establish a controlled interkingdom communication system between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. For this purpose, we engineered as a reporter capable of detecting the CSF and PhrF peptides heterologously produced by the yeast .