Environmental factors affecting the expression of pilAB as well as the proteome and transcriptome of the grass endophyte Azoarcus sp. strain BH72.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bacterial communication is involved in regulation of cellular mechanisms such as metabolic processes, microbe-host interactions or biofilm formation. In the nitrogen-fixing model endophyte of grasses Azoarcus sp. strain BH72, known cell-cell signaling systems have not been identified; however, the pilA gene encoding the structural protein of type IV pili that are essential for plant colonization appears to be regulated in a population density-dependent manner.

Methodology/principal findings

Our data suggest that pilAB expression is affected by population density, independent of autoinducers typical for gram-negative bacteria, likely depending on unknown secreted molecule(s) that can be produced by different bacterial species. We used transcriptomic and proteomic a

SUBMITTER: Hauberg-Lotte L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3262810 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature