The role of BmoR, a MarR Family Regulator, in the survival of Bacteroides fragilis during oxidative stress.

The intestinal opportunistic pathogen Bacteroides fragilis is among the most aerotolerant species of strict anaerobic bacteria and survives exposure to atmospheric oxygen for up to 72h. Under these circumstances, a strong oxygen stress response (OSR) mechanism is activated and the expression of as much as 45% of B. fragilis genes is altered.

Bacteroides species produce Vibrio harveyi autoinducer 2-related molecules.

Quorum sensing is a density-dependent gene regulation mechanism that has been described in many bacterial species in the last decades. Bacteria that use quorum sensing as part of their gene regulation circuits produce molecules called autoinducers that accumulate in the environment and activate target genes in a quorum-dependent way. Some specific clues led us to hypothesize that Bacteroides species can produce autoinducers and possess a quorum sensing system.