Natural silencing of quorum-sensing activity protects Vibrio parahaemolyticus from lysis by an autoinducer-detecting phage.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a chemical communication process that bacteria use to track population density and orchestrate collective behaviors. QS relies on the production, accumulation, and group-wide detection of extracellular signal molecules called autoinducers. Vibriophage 882 (phage VP882), a bacterial virus, encodes a homolog of the Vibrio QS receptor-transcription factor, called VqmA, that monitors the Vibrio QS autoinducer DPO.

Small protein modules dictate prophage fates during polylysogeny.

Most bacteria in the biosphere are predicted to be polylysogens harbouring multiple prophages. In studied systems, prophage induction from lysogeny to lysis is near-universally driven by DNA-damaging agents. Thus, how co-residing prophages compete for cell resources if they respond to an identical trigger is unknown.

Natural Silencing of Quorum-Sensing Activity Protects from Lysis by an Autoinducer-Detecting Phage.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a chemical communication process that bacteria use to track population density and orchestrate collective behaviors. QS relies on the production, accumulation, and group-wide detection of extracellular signal molecules called autoinducers. Vibriophage 882 (phage VP882), a bacterial virus, encodes a homolog of the QS receptor-transcription factor, called VqmA, that monitors the QS autoinducer DPO.

Natural and synthetic inhibitors of a phage-encoded quorum-sensing receptor affect phage-host dynamics in mixed bacterial communities.

Viruses that infect bacteria, called phages, shape the composition of bacterial communities and are important drivers of bacterial evolution. We recently showed that temperate phages, when residing in bacteria (i.e.

Mechanism underlying the DNA-binding preferences of the Vibrio cholerae and vibriophage VP882 VqmA quorum-sensing receptors.

Quorum sensing is a chemical communication process that bacteria use to coordinate group behaviors. In the global pathogen Vibrio cholerae, one quorum-sensing receptor and transcription factor, called VqmA (VqmAVc), activates expression of the vqmR gene encoding the small regulatory RNA VqmR, which represses genes involved in virulence and biofilm formation. Vibriophage VP882 encodes a VqmA homolog called VqmAPhage that activates transcription of the phage gene qtip, and Qtip launches the phage lytic program.

Separating Functions of the Phage-Encoded Quorum-Sensing-Activated Antirepressor Qtip.

Quorum sensing is a process of chemical communication that bacteria use to track cell density and coordinate gene expression across a population. Bacteria-infecting viruses, called phages, can encode quorum-sensing components that enable them to integrate host cell density information into the lysis-lysogeny decision. Vibriophage VP882 is one such phage, and activation of its quorum-sensing pathway leads to the production of an antirepressor called Qtip.

Mechanism underlying autoinducer recognition in the DPO-VqmA quorum-sensing pathway.

Quorum sensing is a bacterial communication process whereby bacteria produce, release, and detect extracellular signaling molecules called autoinducers to coordinate collective behaviors. In the pathogen , the quorum-sensing autoinducer 3,5-dimethyl-pyrazin-2-ol (DPO) binds the receptor and transcription factor VqmA. The DPO-VqmA complex activates transcription of , encoding the VqmR small RNA, which represses genes required for biofilm formation and virulence factor production.