title: Improved quorum sensing capacity by culturing Vibrio harveyi in microcapsules.
abstract: Microcapsule entrapped low density cells with culture (ELDCwc), different from free cell culture, conferred stronger stress resistance and improved cell viability of microorganisms. In this paper, the quorum sensing (QS) system of Vibrio harveyi was used to investigate changes when cells were cultured in microcapsules. Cells in ELDCwc group grew into cell aggregates, which facilitated cell-cell communication and led to increased bioluminescence intensity. Moreover, the luxS-AI-2 system, a well-studied QS signal pathway, was detected as both luxS gene and the AI-2 signaling molecule, and the results were analyzed with respect to QS capacity of unit cell. The V. harveyi of ELDCwc also showed higher relative gene expression and stronger quorum sensing capacity when compared with free cells. In conclusion, the confined microcapsule space can promote the cell aggregates formation, reduce cell-cell communication distance and increase local concentration of signal molecule, which are beneficial to bacterial QS.
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Huiyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: College of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Dalian University, Dalian Economic Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116622, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China. Electronic address: yuwt@dicp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Weiting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D002214:Capsules; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D050296:Microbial Viability; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014733:Vibrio / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002214:Capsules
keywords: Cell aggregates; Entrapped low density cells with culture; Microencapsulation; Quorum sensing; Vibrio harveyi