4.4 Article

Phage Infection Restores PQS Signaling and Enhances Growth of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa lasI Quorum-Sensing Mutant

Journal

JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
Volume 204, Issue 5, Pages -

Publisher

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/jb.00557-21

Keywords

quorum sensing; bacteriophage; virulence; Pseudomonas

Categories

Funding

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NIH grant [2R37GM065859]
  2. National Science Foundation [MCB-2043238]
  3. Lundbeck Foundation [R220-2016-860, R264-2017-3936]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Chemical communication plays a crucial role in interactions between bacteria and bacteriophages. Quorum sensing is a bacterial communication process that promotes collective behaviors. Bacteriophages can exploit this communication to manipulate their hosts and enhance their own survival.
Chemical communication between bacteria and between bacteria and the bacteriophage (phage) viruses that prey on them can shape the outcomes of phage-bacterial encounters. Quorum sensing (QS) is a bacterial cell-to-cell communication process that promotes collective undertaking of group behaviors. QS relies on the production, release, accumulation, and detection of signal molecules called autoinducers. Phages can exploit QS-mediated communication to manipulate their hosts and maximize their own survival. In the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the LasI/R QS system induces the RhlI/R QS system, and in opposing manners, these two systems control the QS system that relies on the autoinducer called PQS. A P. aeruginosa Delta lasI mutant is impaired in PQS synthesis, leading to accumulation of the precursor molecule HHQ, and HHQ suppresses growth of the P. aeruginosa Delta lasI strain. We show that, in response to a phage infection, the P. aeruginosa Delta lasI mutant reactivates QS, which, in turn, restores pqsH expression, enabling conversion of HHQ into PQS. Moreover, downstream QS target genes encoding virulence factors are induced. Additionally, phage-infected P. aeruginosa Delta lasI cells transiently exhibit superior growth compared to uninfected cells. IMPORTANCE Clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa frequently harbor mutations in particular QS genes. Here, we show that infection by select temperate phages restores QS, a cell-to-cell communication mechanism in a P. aeruginosa QS mutant. Restoration of QS increases expression of genes encoding virulence factors. Thus, phage infection of select P. aeruginosa strains may increase bacterial pathogenicity, underscoring the importance of characterizing phage-host interactions in the context of bacterial mutants that are relevant in clinical settings.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.4
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available