Journal
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
Volume 28, Issue 15, Pages 1710-1720Publisher
COLD SPRING HARBOR LAB PRESS, PUBLICATIONS DEPT
DOI: 10.1101/gad.246397.114
Keywords
biofilm; exopolysaccharide; tyrosine kinase
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) [GM18568]
- NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [5P01AI083214]
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We report that the Bacillus subtilis exopolysaccharide (EPS) is a signaling molecule that controls its own production. EPS synthesis depends on a tyrosine kinase that consists of a membrane component (EpsA) and a kinase component (EpsB). EPS interacts with the extracellular domain of EpsA, which is a receptor, to control kinase activity. In the absence of EPS, the kinase is inactivated by autophosphorylation. The presence of EPS inhibits autophosphorylation and instead promotes the phosphorylation of a glycosyltransferase in the biosynthetic pathway, thereby stimulating the production of EPS. Thus, EPS production is subject to a positive feedback loop that ties its synthesis to its own concentration. Tyrosine kinase-mediated self-regulation could be a widespread feature of the control of exopolysaccharide production in bacteria.
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