LuxS-Mediated Quorum Sensing in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme Disease Spirochete
AUTOR(ES)
Stevenson, Brian
FONTE
American Society for Microbiology
RESUMO
The establishment of Borrelia burgdorferi infection involves numerous interactions between the bacteria and a variety of vertebrate host and arthropod vector tissues. This complex process requires regulated synthesis of many bacterial proteins. We now demonstrate that these spirochetes utilize a LuxS/autoinducer-2 (AI-2)-based quorum-sensing mechanism to regulate protein expression, the first system of cell-cell communication to be described in a spirochete. The luxS gene of B. burgdorferi was identified and demonstrated to encode a functional enzyme by complementation of an Escherichia coli luxS mutant. Cultured B. burgdorferi responded to AI-2 by altering the expression levels of a large number of proteins, including the complement regulator factor H-binding Erp proteins. Through this mechanism, a population of Lyme disease spirochetes may synchronize production of specific proteins needed for infection processes.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=128172Documentos Relacionados
- Characterization of outer membranes isolated from Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete.
- DNA microarray analysis of differential gene expression in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete
- In Vitro and In Vivo Susceptibility of the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, to Four Antimicrobial Agents
- In vitro and in vivo susceptibility of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, to four antimicrobial agents.
- Plasmid analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent.
