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Acyl homoserine lactone-based quorum sensing in a methanogenic archaeon
Acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-based quorum sensing commonly refers to cell density-dependent regulatory mechanisms found in bacteria. However, beyond bacteria, this cell-to-cell communication mechanism is poorly understood. Here we show that a methanogenic archaeon, Methanosaeta harundinacea 6Ac, en...
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Published in: | The ISME Journal 2012-07, Vol.6 (7), p.1336-1344 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-based quorum sensing commonly refers to cell density-dependent regulatory mechanisms found in bacteria. However, beyond bacteria, this cell-to-cell communication mechanism is poorly understood. Here we show that a methanogenic archaeon,
Methanosaeta harundinacea
6Ac, encodes an active quorum sensing system that is used to regulate cell assembly and carbon metabolic flux. The methanogen 6Ac showed a cell density-dependent physiology transition, which was related to the AHL present in the spent culture and the
filI
gene-encoded AHL synthase. Through extensive chemical analyses, a new class of carboxylated AHLs synthesized by FilI protein was identified. These carboxylated AHLs facilitated the transition from a short cell to filamentous growth, with an altered carbon metabolic flux that favoured the conversion of acetate to methane and a reduced yield in cellular biomass. The transcriptomes of the filaments and the short cell forms differed with gene expression profiles consistent with the physiology. In the filaments, genes encoding the initial enzymes in the methanogenesis pathway were upregulated, whereas those for cellular carbon assimilation were downregulated. A
luxI–luxR
ortholog
filI–filR
was present in the genome of strain 6Ac. The carboxylated AHLs were also detected in other methanogen cultures and putative
filI
orthologs were identified in other methanogenic genomes as well. This discovery of AHL-based quorum sensing systems in methanogenic archaea implies that quorum sensing mechanisms are universal among prokaryotes. |
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ISSN: | 1751-7362 1751-7370 |
DOI: | 10.1038/ismej.2011.203 |