Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Volume 22, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22115628
Keywords
Zymomonas mobilis; quorum sensing; AI-2; N-2 fixation; ethanol production; transcriptome
Funding
- Sao Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESP [2017/08112-3, 2017/13197-8]
- Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior-Brasil-CAPES
- Universidade Federal do ABC
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AI-2 can induce QS responses in bacteria, and Z. mobilis responds to AI-2 by modulating gene expression related to QS, promoting ethanol production and adapting to the high energy demand of N-2 fixation.
Autoinducer 2 (or AI-2) is one of the molecules used by bacteria to trigger the Quorum Sensing (QS) response, which activates expression of genes involved in a series of alternative mechanisms, when cells reach high population densities (including bioluminescence, motility, biofilm formation, stress resistance, and production of public goods, or pathogenicity factors, among others). Contrary to most autoinducers, AI-2 can induce QS responses in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and has been suggested to constitute a trans-specific system of bacterial communication, capable of affecting even bacteria that cannot produce this autoinducer. In this work, we demonstrate that the ethanologenic Gram-negative bacterium Zymomonas mobilis (a non-AI-2 producer) responds to exogenous AI-2 by modulating expression of genes involved in mechanisms typically associated with QS in other bacteria, such as motility, DNA repair, and nitrogen fixation. Interestingly, the metabolism of AI-2-induced Z. mobilis cells seems to favor ethanol production over biomass accumulation, probably as an adaptation to the high-energy demand of N-2 fixation. This opens the possibility of employing AI-2 during the industrial production of second-generation ethanol, as a way to boost N-2 fixation by these bacteria, which could reduce costs associated with the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, without compromising ethanol production in industrial plants.
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