Sequence and function of LuxU: a two-component phosphorelay protein that regulates quorum sensing in Vibrio harveyi.

ABSTRACT: Vibrio harveyi regulates the expression of bioluminescence (lux) in response to cell density, a phenomenon known as quorum sensing. In V. harveyi, two independent quorum-sensing systems exist, and each produces, detects, and responds to a specific cell density-dependent autoinducer signal. The autoinducers are recognized by two-component hybrid sensor kinases called LuxN and LuxQ, and sensory information from both systems is transduced by a phosphorelay mechanism to the response regulator protein LuxO. Genetic evidence suggests that LuxO-phosphate negatively regulates the expression of luminescence at low cell density in the absence of autoinducers. At high cell density, interaction of the sensors with their cognate autoinducers results in dephosphorylation and inactivation of the LuxO rep

SUBMITTER: Freeman JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC93457 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature