Ratiometric population sensing by a pump-probe signaling system in Bacillus subtilis

• Verfasst von: Babel, Heiko [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Naranjo-Meneses, Pablo [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Trauth, Stephanie [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Schulmeister, Sonja [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Malengo, Gabriele [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Sourjik, Victor [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bischofs-Pfeifer, Ilka [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Ratiometric population sensing by a pump-probe signaling system in Bacillus subtilis
• Verf.angabe: Heiko Babel, Pablo Naranjo-Meneses, Stephanie Trauth, Sonja Schulmeister, Gabriele Malengo, Victor Sourjik & Ilka B. Bischofs
• E-Jahr: 2020
• Jahr: 04 March 2020
• Umfang: 13 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 10.08.2020
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Nature Communications
• Ort Quelle: [London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2010
• Jahr Quelle: 2020
• Band/Heft Quelle: 11(2020) Artikel-Nummer 1176, 13 Seiten
• ISSN Quelle: 2041-1723
• DOI: doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14840-w
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1726684792

Abstract

Communication by means of diffusible signaling molecules facilitates higher-level organization of cellular populations. Gram-positive bacteria frequently use signaling peptides, which are either detected at the cell surface or ‘probed’ by intracellular receptors after being pumped into the cytoplasm. While the former type is used to monitor cell density, the functions of pump-probe networks are less clear. Here we show that pump-probe networks can, in principle, perform different tasks and mediate quorum-sensing, chronometric and ratiometric control. We characterize the properties of the prototypical PhrA-RapA system in Bacillus subtilis using FRET. We find that changes in extracellular PhrA concentrations are tracked rather poorly; instead, cells accumulate and strongly amplify the signal in a dose-dependent manner. This suggests that the PhrA-RapA system, and others like it, have evolved to sense changes in the composition of heterogeneous populations and infer the fraction of signal-producing cells in a mixed population to coordinate cellular behaviors.