title: Vibrio harveyi quorum sensing: a coincidence detector for two autoinducers controls gene expression.
abstract: In a process called quorum sensing, bacteria communicate with one another by exchanging chemical signals called autoinducers. In the bioluminescent marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi, two different auto inducers (AI-1 and AI-2) regulate light emission. Detection of and response to the V.harveyi autoinducers are accomplished through two two-component sensory relay systems: AI-1 is detected by the sensor LuxN and AI-2 by LuxPQ. Here we further define the V.harveyi quorum-sensing regulon by identifying 10 new quorum-sensing-controlled target genes. Our examination of signal processing and integration in the V.harveyi quorum-sensing circuit suggests that AI-1 and AI-2 act synergistically, and that the V.harveyi quorum-sensing circuit may function exclusively as a 'coincidence detector' that discriminates between conditions in which both autoinducers are present and all other conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1014, USA.
authors.forename: Kenny C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Mok
authors.forename: Ned S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Wingreen
authors.forename: Bonnie L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Bassler
mesh_terms: D015107:4-Butyrolactone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000502:physiology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D006714:Homoserine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000502:physiology*; D007783:Lactones; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014733:Vibrio / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007783:Lactones; C091088:N-octanoylhomoserine lactone; D006714:Homoserine; C030654:N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-3-aminodihydro-2(3H)-furanone; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; D015107:4-Butyrolactone