A Geneticist Transcribing the Chemical Language of Bacteria.

The study of quorum sensing, bacterial cell-to-cell communication mediated by the production and detection of small molecule signals, has skyrocketed since its discovery in the last third of the 20th century. Building from early investigations of bacterial bioluminescence, the process has been characterized to control a numerous and growing number of group behaviors, including virulence and biofilm formation. Bonnie Bassler has made key contributions to the understanding of quorum sensing, leading interdisciplinary efforts to characterize key signaling pathway components and their respective signaling molecules across a range of gram-negative bacteria.

Antibiotic Adjuvant Activity Revealed in a Photoaffinity Approach to Determine the Molecular Target of Antipyocyanin Compounds.

Infections with are a looming threat to public health. New treatment strategies are needed to combat this pathogen, for example, by blocking the production of virulence factors like pyocyanin. A photoaffinity analogue of an antipyocyanin compound was developed to interrogate the inhibitor's molecular mechanism of action.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa product pyochelin interferes with Trypanosoma cruzi infection and multiplication in vitro.

Background: Bacteria are sources of numerous molecules used in treatment of infectious diseases. We investigated effects of molecules produced by 26 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains against infection of mammalian cell cultures with Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas disease.

Methods: Vero cells were infected with T.

Global H-NS counter-silencing by LuxR activates quorum sensing gene expression.

Bacteria coordinate cellular behaviors using a cell-cell communication system termed quorum sensing. In Vibrio harveyi, the master quorum sensing transcription factor LuxR directly regulates >100 genes in response to changes in population density. Here, we show that LuxR derepresses quorum sensing loci by competing with H-NS, a global transcriptional repressor that oligomerizes on DNA to form filaments and bridges.

avoids toxin-producing using a seven transmembrane domain chemosensory receptor.

Predators and prey co-evolve, each maximizing their own fitness, but the effects of predator-prey interactions on cellular and molecular machinery are poorly understood. Here, we study this process using the predator and the bacterial prey which have evolved a powerful defense: the production of nematicides. We demonstrate that upon exposure to at their head or tail, nematodes display an escape response that is mediated by bacterially produced cues.