Quorum Sensing Attenuates Virulence in Sodalis praecaptivus.

Cell Host Microbe

Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Electronic address:

Published: May 2017

AI Article Synopsis

  • Sodalis praecaptivus is a close relative of other bacteria associated with insects and may play a key role in their environment.
  • Researchers found that mutant strains of S. praecaptivus, lacking quorum-sensing (QS) genes, can rapidly kill insects when injected, due to the activation of virulence factors.
  • This study highlights how QS helps control the expression of harmful genes, allowing bacteria to switch from a pathogenic to a mutualistic relationship with their insect hosts.

Article Abstract

Sodalis praecaptivus is a close relative and putative environmental progenitor of the widely distributed, insect-associated, Sodalis-allied symbionts. Here we show that mutant strains of S. praecaptivus that lack genetic components of a quorum-sensing (QS) apparatus have a rapid and potent killing phenotype following microinjection into an insect host. Transcriptomic and genetic analyses indicate that insect killing occurs as a consequence of virulence factors, including insecticidal toxins and enzymes that degrade the insect integument, which are normally repressed by QS at high infection densities. This method of regulation suggests that virulence factors are only utilized in early infection to initiate the insect-bacterial association. Once bacteria reach sufficient density in host tissues, the QS circuit represses expression of these harmful genes, facilitating a long-lasting and benign association. We discuss the implications of the functionality of this QS system in the context of establishment and evolution of mutualistic relationships involving these bacteria.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5542680PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2017.04.003DOI Listing

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