Oxylipins mediate cell-to-cell communication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Commun Biol. 2019 Feb 15:2:66. doi: 10.1038/s42003-019-0310-0. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Oxygenated unsaturated fatty acids, known as oxylipins, are signaling molecules commonly used for cell-to-cell communication in eukaryotes. However, a role for oxylipins in mediating communication in prokaryotes has not previously been described. Bacteria mainly communicate via quorum sensing, which involves the production and detection of diverse small molecules termed autoinducers. Here we show that oleic acid-derived oxylipins produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa function as autoinducers of a novel quorum sensing system. We found that this system controls the cell density-dependent expression of a gene subset independently of the quorum sensing systems thus far described in this bacterium. We identified a LysR-type transcriptional regulator as the primary receptor of the oxylipin signal. The discovery of this oxylipin-dependent quorum sensing system reveals that prokaryote-derived oxylipins also mediate cell-to-cell communication in bacteria.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Load
  • Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Oxylipins / metabolism*
  • Prokaryotic Cells / metabolism
  • Prokaryotic Cells / physiology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / genetics*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / metabolism
  • Quorum Sensing / genetics*
  • Signal Transduction / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Oxylipins
  • Transcription Factors
  • LysR protein, Bacteria