Autoinducer-2-producing protein LuxS, a novel salt- and chloride-induced protein in the moderately halophilic bacterium Halobacillus halophilus.

ABSTRACT: The moderately halophilic bacterium Halobacillus halophilus carries a homologue of LuxS, a protein involved in the activated methyl cycle and the production of autoinducer-2, which mediates quorum sensing between certain species. luxS of H. halophilus is part of an operon that encodes an S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase, a cysteine synthase, and a beta-cystathionine lyase. Expression of luxS was growth phase dependent, with maximal expression in the mid-exponential growth phase. In addition, transcription of luxS was strictly salt dependent; maximal mRNA concentrations were observed with 2.0 M NaCl in the growth medium. Chloride ions stimulated luxS transcription by a factor of three. Western blot analyses demonstrated a growth phase- and salinity-dependent production of Lu

SUBMITTER: Sewald X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1796989 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature