Quorum Sensing Coordinates Cooperative Expression of Pyruvate Metabolism Genes To Maintain a Sustainable Environment for Population Stability.

ABSTRACT: Quorum sensing (QS) is a microbial cell-cell communication system that regulates gene expression in response to population density to coordinate collective behaviors. Yet, the role of QS in resolving the stresses caused by the accumulation of toxic metabolic by-products at high cell density is not well defined. In response to cell density, QS could be involved in reprogramming of the metabolic network to maintain population stability. Using unbiased metabolomics, we discovered that Vibrio cholerae mutants genetically locked in a low cell density (LCD) QS state are unable to alter the pyruvate flux to convert fermentable carbon sources into neutral acetoin and 2,3-butanediol molecules to offset organic acid production. As a consequence, LCD-locked QS mutants rapidly lose viability when grow

SUBMITTER: Hawver LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5142617 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature