Regulation of competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae by an auto-induced peptide pheromone and a two-component regulatory system.

doi:10.1046/J.1365-2958.1996.501417.X

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Regulation of competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae by an auto-induced peptide pheromone and a two-component regulatory system.

Journal Article•DOI•

Regulation of competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae by an auto-induced peptide pheromone and a two-component regulatory system.

Ekaterina V. Pestova¹, Leiv Sigve Håvarstein, Donald A. Morrison¹•Institutions (1)

University of Illinois at Chicago¹

01 Aug 1996-Molecular Microbiology (Mol Microbiol)-Vol. 21, Iss: 4, pp 853-862

TL;DR: The authors showed that the competence regulation for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae depends on a quorum-sensing system, but the only molecular elements of the system whose specific role have been identified are an extracellular peptide signal and an ABC-transporter required for its export.

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Abstract: The regulation of competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae depends on a quorum-sensing system, but the only molecular elements of the system whose specific role have been identified are an extracellular peptide signal and an ABC-transporter required for its export. Here we show that transcription of comC, the gene encoding a predicted 41-residue precursor peptide that is thought to be processed and secreted as the 17-residue mature competence activator, increased approximately 40-fold above its basal level of expression in response to exogenous synthetic activator, consistent with earlier experiments indicating that the activator acts autocatalytically. We also describe two new genes, comD and comE, that encode members of histidine protein kinase and response-regulator families and are linked to comC. Disruption of comE abolished both response to synthetic activator peptide and endogenous competence induction.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Quorum Sensing in Bacteria

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Melissa B. Miller¹, Bonnie L. Bassler•Institutions (1)

Princeton University¹

01 Jan 2001-Annual Review of Microbiology

TL;DR: The evolution of quorum sensing systems in bacteria could, therefore, have been one of the early steps in the development of multicellularity.

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Abstract: ▪ Abstract Quorum sensing is the regulation of gene expression in response to fluctuations in cell-population density. Quorum sensing bacteria produce and release chemical signal molecules called autoinducers that increase in concentration as a function of cell density. The detection of a minimal threshold stimulatory concentration of an autoinducer leads to an alteration in gene expression. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria use quorum sensing communication circuits to regulate a diverse array of physiological activities. These processes include symbiosis, virulence, competence, conjugation, antibiotic production, motility, sporulation, and biofilm formation. In general, Gram-negative bacteria use acylated homoserine lactones as autoinducers, and Gram-positive bacteria use processed oligo-peptides to communicate. Recent advances in the field indicate that cell-cell communication via autoinducers occurs both within and between bacterial species. Furthermore, there is mounting data suggesting that ba...

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4,449 citations

Cites background from "Regulation of competence for geneti..."

...Detection of accumulated CSP at high cell density occurs via the ComD sensor kinase protein (122)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

QUORUM SENSING: Cell-to-Cell Communication in Bacteria

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Christopher M. Waters¹, Bonnie L. Bassler¹•Institutions (1)

Princeton University¹

07 Oct 2005-Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology

TL;DR: This review focuses on the architectures of bacterial chemical communication networks; how chemical information is integrated, processed, and transduced to control gene expression; how intra- and interspecies cell-cell communication is accomplished; and the intriguing possibility of prokaryote-eukaryote cross-communication.

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Abstract: Bacteria communicate with one another using chemical signal molecules. As in higher organisms, the information supplied by these molecules is critical for synchronizing the activities of large groups of cells. In bacteria, chemical communication involves producing, releasing, detecting, and responding to small hormone-like molecules termed autoinducers. This process, termed quorum sensing, allows bacteria to monitor the environment for other bacteria and to alter behavior on a population-wide scale in response to changes in the number and/or species present in a community. Most quorum-sensing-controlled processes are unproductive when undertaken by an individual bacterium acting alone but become beneficial when carried out simultaneously by a large number of cells. Thus, quorum sensing confuses the distinction between prokaryotes and eukaryotes because it enables bacteria to act as multicellular organisms. This review focuses on the architectures of bacterial chemical communication networks; how c...

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3,360 citations

Cites background from "Regulation of competence for geneti..."

...ComE directly activates transcription of early genes that include comAB and comCDE; this causes increased signal production and detection (Pestova et al. 1996)....
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...Quorum-sensing mutants of S. pneumoniae and related streptococci show defects in multiple pathways, including biofilm formation, acid tolerance, bacteriocin production, and virulence (reviewed in Suntharalingam & Cvitkovitch 2005)....
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...CSP is detected by the membrane-bound sensor histidine kinase ComD, which transfers phosphate to the cytoplasmic response regulator ComE (Pestova et al. 1996)....
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...ComE also activates transcription of comX, a gene encoding an alternate sigma factor (Lee & Morrison 1999), and comW, which is required for transcription of late genes encoding proteins essential for DNA uptake (Luo et al. 2004)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Microbial Biofilms: from Ecology to Molecular Genetics

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Mary E. Davey¹, George A. O'Toole¹•Institutions (1)

Dartmouth College¹

01 Dec 2000-Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews

TL;DR: The recent explosion in the field of biofilm research has led to exciting progress in the development of new technologies for studying these communities, advanced the authors' understanding of the ecological significance of surface-attached bacteria, and provided new insights into the molecular genetic basis ofBiofilm development.

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Abstract: Biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms attached to surfaces or associated with interfaces. Despite the focus of modern microbiology research on pure culture, planktonic (free-swimming) bacteria, it is now widely recognized that most bacteria found in natural, clinical, and industrial settings persist in association with surfaces. Furthermore, these microbial communities are often composed of multiple species that interact with each other and their environment. The determination of biofilm architecture, particularly the spatial arrangement of microcolonies (clusters of cells) relative to one another, has profound implications for the function of these complex communities. Numerous new experimental approaches and methodologies have been developed in order to explore metabolic interactions, phylogenetic groupings, and competition among members of the biofilm. To complement this broad view of biofilm ecology, individual organisms have been studied using molecular genetics in order to identify the genes required for biofilm development and to dissect the regulatory pathways that control the plankton-to-biofilm transition. These molecular genetic studies have led to the emergence of the concept of biofilm formation as a novel system for the study of bacterial development. The recent explosion in the field of biofilm research has led to exciting progress in the development of new technologies for studying these communities, advanced our understanding of the ecological significance of surface-attached bacteria, and provided new insights into the molecular genetic basis of biofilm development.

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2,910 citations

Cites background from "Regulation of competence for geneti..."

...Interestingly, comD, which codes for a histidine kinase required for the development of competence in Streptococcus (148), is the receptor for a peptide quorum signal (96, 195)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Bacterial Quorum-Sensing Network Architectures

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Wai Leung Ng¹, Bonnie L. Bassler•Institutions (1)

Princeton University¹

17 Nov 2009-Annual Review of Genetics

TL;DR: It is argued that the Vibrio quorum-sensing systems are optimally designed to precisely translate extracellular autoinducer information into internal changes in gene expression.

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Abstract: Quorum sensing is a cell-cell communication process in which bacteria use the production and detection of extracellular chemicals called autoinducers to monitor cell population density. Quorum sensing allows bacteria to synchronize the gene expression of the group, and thus act in unison. Here, we review the mechanisms involved in quorum sensing with a focus on the Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio cholerae quorum-sensing systems. We discuss the differences between these two quorum-sensing systems and the differences between them and other paradigmatic bacterial signal transduction systems. We argue that the Vibrio quorum-sensing systems are optimally designed to precisely translate extracellular autoinducer information into internal changes in gene expression. We describe how studies of the V. harveyi and V. cholerae quorum-sensing systems have revealed some of the fundamental mechanisms underpinning the evolution of collective behaviors.

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1,448 citations

Cites background from "Regulation of competence for geneti..."

...Examples of peptide-based quorumsensing systems include the ComD/ComE system of Streptococcus pneumoniae that controls competence development (94), the AgrC/AgrA system of Staphylococcus aureus that controls pathogenesis (45), and the ComP/ComA system of Bacillus subtilis that controls competence and sporulation (69)....
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...Consistent with this, although Gram-positive quorum-sensing receptors are members of the histidine kinase protein family and thus share overall homology, little homology exists in their transmembrane ligand sensing domains and this likely determines their specificity (69, 87, 94)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

A characterization of DNA release in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultures and biofilms

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Marie Allesen-Holm¹, Kim Bundvig Barken¹, Liang Yang¹, Mikkel Klausen¹, Jeremy S. Webb², Staffan Kjelleberg², Søren Molin¹, Michael Givskov¹, Tim Tolker-Nielsen¹ - Show less +5 more•Institutions (2)

Technical University of Denmark¹, University of New South Wales²

01 Feb 2006-Molecular Microbiology

TL;DR: Experiments with P. aeruginosa strains indicated that the extracellular DNA is generated via a mechanism which is dependent on acyl homoserine lactone and Pseudomonas quinolone signalling, as well as on flagella and type IV pili.

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Abstract: Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces extracellular DNA which functions as a cell-to-cell interconnecting matrix component in biofilms. Comparison of extracellular DNA and chromosomal DNA by the use of polymerase chain reaction and Southern analysis suggested that the extracellular DNA is similar to whole-genome DNA. Evidence that the extracellular DNA in P. aeruginosa biofilms and cultures is generated via lysis of a subpopulation of the bacteria was obtained through experiments where extracellular ?-galactosidase released from lacZ-containing P. aeruginosa strains was assessed. Experiments with the wild type and lasIrhlI, pqsA, pqsL and fliMpilA mutants indicated that the extracellular DNA is generated via a mechanism which is dependent on acyl homoserine lactone and Pseudomonas quinolone signalling, as well as on flagella and type IV pili. Microscopic investigation of flow chamber-grown wild-type P. aeruginosa biofilms stained with different DNA stains suggested that the extracellular DNA is located primarily in the stalks of mushroom-shaped multicellular structures, with a high concentration especially in the outer part of the stalks forming a border between the stalk-forming bacteria and the cap-forming bacteria. Biofilms formed by lasIrhlI, pqsA and fliMpilA mutants contained less extracellular DNA than biofilms formed by the wild type, and the mutant biofilms were more susceptible to treatment with sodium dodecyl sulphate than the wild-type biofilm

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915 citations

Cites background from "Regulation of competence for geneti..."

...In all these cases DNA release and competence development occur in the late-log phase in liquid cultures, and in some of the cases competence development has been shown to be regulated through a quorum-sensing mechanism (Magnuson et al., 1994; Pestova et al., 1996)....
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References

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Book•

Experiments in molecular genetics

[...]

Jeffrey H Miller

01 Jan 1972

TL;DR: Molecular Genetics (Biology): An Overview | Sciencing Experimental in Molecular Genetics Experiments in molecular genetics (1972 edition) | Open ...

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Abstract: Molecular Genetics (Biology): An Overview | Sciencing Experiments in Molecular Genetics Experiments in molecular genetics (1972 edition) | Open ... Experimental Molecular Genetics | Biology | MIT OpenCourseWare DNA experiments you can perform at home | SBS Science Experiments in molecular genetics Jeffrey H. Miller ... DNA and Molecular Genetics Experiments in Molecular Biology: Biochemical Applications ... Molecular Genetics Biology Experiment Please help ... Molecular genetics | biology | Britannica Molecular Genetic Experiment : Biology Lab 1793 Words ... Miller, J.H. (1972) Experiments in Molecular Genetics ... Griffith's experiment Wikipedia DNA as genetic material: Revisiting classic experiments ... Experiments in molecular genetics (Book, 1972) [WorldCat.org] Measuring βGalactosidase Activity in Bacteria: Cell ... Classic Experiments in

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26,898 citations

"Regulation of competence for geneti..." refers background or methods in this paper

...…accomplished by adding Triton-X100 to 0.1% (v/v) and incubating for 10 min at 378C. Assay reactions contained 1 ml reaction buffer (1 mM MgCl2, 50 mM mercaptoethanol, 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.5, and 0.8 mg ml71 ONPG) and a variable (1/20–1/5 vol) volume of crude extract (Miller, 1972)....
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...Hydrolysis of ONPG was followed at 420 nm at approx 248C. Enzyme activity was calculated according to Miller (1972), using A620 of the culture determined in a 1 cm path cuvette....
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...8 mg ml(71) ONPG) and a variable (1/20–1/5 vol) volume of crude extract (Miller, 1972)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

A comprehensive set of sequence analysis programs for the VAX

[...]

John Devereux, Paul Haeberli, Oliver Smithies

11 Jan 1984-Nucleic Acids Research

TL;DR: A group of programs that will interact with each other has been developed for the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX computer using the VMS operating system.

...read moreread less

Abstract: The University of Wisconsin Genetics Computer Group (UWGCG) has been organized to develop computational tools for the analysis and publication of biological sequence data. A group of programs that will interact with each other has been developed for the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX computer using the VMS operating system. The programs available and the conditions for transfer are described.

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14,575 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Protein phosphorylation and regulation of adaptive responses in bacteria.

[...]

Jeff Stock¹, Alexander J. Ninfa¹, Ann M. Stock•Institutions (1)

Princeton University¹

01 Dec 1989-Microbiological Research

TL;DR: An attempt is made to understand how cross-talk between parallel phosphotransfer pathways can provide a global regulatory curcuitry.

...read moreread less

1,633 citations

"Regulation of competence for geneti..." refers background in this paper

...Structural motifs link ComD and ComE with two-component regulatory systems Homology searches in data banks showed that ComD and ComE belong to the family of two-component regulatory systems for signal transduction (Stock et al., 1989)....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

An unmodified heptadecapeptide pheromone induces competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae

[...]

Leiv Sigve Håvarstein, Gowri Coomaraswamy¹, Donald A. Morrison•Institutions (1)

University of Illinois at Chicago¹

21 Nov 1995-Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

TL;DR: It is shown that strain CP1200 produces a 17-residue peptide that induces cells of the Streptococcus pneumoniae species to develop competence and the hypothesis is presented that this transport protein is encoded by comA, previously shown to be required for elaboration of the pneumococcal competence activator.

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Abstract: Competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae has been known for three decades to arise in growing cultures at a critical cell density, in response to a secreted protease-sensitive signal. We show that strain CP1200 produces a 17-residue peptide that induces cells of the species to develop competence. The sequence of the peptide was found to be H-Glu-Met-Arg-Leu-Ser-Lys-Phe-Phe-Arg-Asp-Phe-Ile-Leu-Gln-Arg- Lys-Lys-OH. A synthetic peptide of the same sequence was shown to be biologically active in small quantities and to extend the range of conditions suitable for development of competence. Cognate codons in the pneumococcal chromosome indicate that the peptide is made ribosomally. As the gene encodes a prepeptide containing the Gly-Gly consensus processing site found in peptide bacteriocins, the peptide is likely to be exported by a specialized ATP-binding cassette transport protein as is characteristic of these bacteriocins. The hypothesis is presented that this transport protein is encoded by comA, previously shown to be required for elaboration of the pneumococcal competence activator.

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746 citations

"Regulation of competence for geneti..." refers background or methods in this paper

...A newly described family of ABC-transporters carry out the processing and secretion of these peptides (Håvarstein et al., 1995b)....
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...Recently, we purified a competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) from pneumococcus strain Rx and found a corresponding gene, comC, in the same strain (Håvarstein et al., 1995a)....
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...Structures flanking the gene for CSP In a previous report, we described the sequence encoding a putative precursor to CSP that included a double-Gly processing site motif (Håvarstein et al., 1995b)....
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Cell Density Control of Staphylococcal Virulence Mediated by an Octapeptide Pheromone

[...]

Guangyong Ji¹, Ronald C. Beavis, Richard P. Novick•Institutions (1)

New York University¹

01 Jan 1995

TL;DR: This study has demonstrated that the synthesis of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors is controlled by a density-sensing system that utilizes an octapeptide produced by the organism itself.

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Abstract: Some bacterial pathogens elaborate and secrete virulence factors in response to environmental signals, others in response to a specific host product, and still others in response to no discernible cue. In this study, we have demonstrated that the synthesis of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors is controlled by a density-sensing system that utilizes an octapeptide produced by the organism itself. The octapeptide activates expression of the agr locus, a global regulator of the virulence response. This response involves the reciprocal regulation of genes encoding surface proteins and those encoding secreted virulence factors. As cells enter the postexponential phase, surface protein genes are repressed by agr and secretory protein genes are subsequently activated. The intracellular agr effector is a regulatory RNA, RNAIII, whose transcription is activated by an agr-encoded signal transduction system for which the octapeptide is the ligand.

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601 citations

"Regulation of competence for geneti..." refers background in this paper

...In parallel with what has been found for regulation of natural competence and bacteriocin production, it has recently been shown that agrD, a small reading frame located just upstream of the histidine protein kinase gene (named agrB or agrC ), encodes an octapeptide induction factor apparently produced by processing of a 46-residue precursor (Guangyong et al., 1995)....
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...…and bacteriocin production, it has recently been shown that agrD, a small reading frame located just upstream of the histidine protein kinase gene (named agrB or agrC ), encodes an octapeptide induction factor apparently produced by processing of a 46-residue precursor (Guangyong et al., 1995)....
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