Social interactions and distribution of Bacillus subtilis pherotypes at microscale.

ABSTRACT: Bacillus subtilis strains communicate through the comQXPA quorum sensing (QS) system, which regulates genes expressed during early stationary phase. A high polymorphism of comQXP' loci was found in closely related strains isolated from desert soil samples separated by distances ranging from meters to kilometers. The observed polymorphism comprised four communication groups (pherotypes), such that strains belonging to the same pherotype exchanged information efficiently but strains from different pherotypes failed to communicate. To determine whether the same level of polymorphism in the comQXP' QS system could be detected at microscale, B. subtilis isolates were obtained from two separate 1-cm(3) soil samples, which were progressively divided into smaller sections. Cross-activation studies

SUBMITTER: Stefanic P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2648371 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature