Quorum size of Pseudomonas syringae is small and dictated by water availability on the leaf surface.

ABSTRACT: The paradigm of bacterial quorum sensing (QS), which mediates cell-density-dependent gene expression, usually has been studied in high-cell-density planktonic liquid cultures or in biofilms in which signal concentrations accumulate to sufficiently high levels to induce QS. Presumably under conditions with restricted diffusion of the signal molecule, smaller population sizes could achieve such a state of QS induction. The plant-pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae, in which QS controls traits involved in epiphytic fitness and virulence, occurs on leaf surfaces in aggregates of various sizes. Because leaves often harbor limited surface water, we investigated the size of aggregates that would permit QS in a nonsaturated environment. QS induction was visualized via dual fluorescence of P.

SUBMITTER: Dulla G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2268588 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature