Implications of rewiring bacterial quorum sensing.
Bacteria employ quorum sensing, a form of cell-cell communication, to sense changes in population density and regulate gene expression accordingly. This work investigated the rewiring of one quorum-sensing module, the lux circuit from the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Steady-state experiments demonstrate that rewiring the network architecture of this module can yield graded, threshold, and bistable gene expression as predicted by a mathematical model. The experiments also show that the native lux operon is most consistent with a threshold, as opposed to a bistable, response. Each of the rewired networks yielded functional population sensors at biologically relevant conditions, suggesting that this operon is particularly robust. These findings (i) permit prediction of the behaviors of quorum-sensing operons in bacterial pathogens and (ii) facilitate forward engineering of synthetic gene circuits.
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 210-41, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Eric L
EL
Haseltine
Frances H
FH
Arnold
D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009876:Operon / Q000235:genetics; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000235:genetics*