Exploring the transcriptome of luxI^- and ΔainS mutants and the impact of N-3-oxo-hexanoyl-L- and N-3-hydroxy-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactones on biofilm formation in Aliivibrio salmonicida

Abstract

Background. The marine bacterium A. salmonicida uses the quorum sensing (QS) systems, AinS/R and LuxI/R to produce eight acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) in a cell density dependent manner. Biofilm formation is one of the QS regulated phenotypes, which requires the expression of exopolysaccharides (EPS).We previously demonstrated that inactivation of LitR, the master regulator of QS in A. salmonicida resulted in biofilm formation, which was, similar to the biofilm formed by the AHL deficient mutant ΔainSluxI-.In this work, we have identified genes regulated by AinS and LuxI using RNA sequensing (RNA-Seq), and studied their role in biofilm formation, colony morphology and motility. We have also studied the effect of two AHLs on the biofilm formation. Results.The transcriptome profiling of ΔainS and luxI- mutants allowed us to identify essential genes regulated by QS in A. salmonicida. Relative to the wild-type, the ΔainS and luxI- mutants revealed 40 and 500 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. The functional analysis demonstrated that the most pronounced DEGs were involved in bacterial motility and chemotaxis, exopolysaccharide production, and surface structures related to adhesion. Inactivation of luxI but not ainS genes resulted in wrinkled colony morphology. While inactivation of both genes (ΔainSluxI-) resulted in strains able to form wrinkled colonies and mushroom structured biofilm. Moreover, when the ΔainSluxI- mutant was supplemented with N-3-oxo-hexanoyl-L- homoserine lactone (3OC6-HSL) and N-3-hydroxy-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactone(3OHC10-HSL), the biofilm did not develop. We also show that LuxI is needed for motility and repression for EPS production, where repression of EPS is likely operated through the RpoQ-sigma factor. Conclusion.These findings imply that LuxI and AinS synthases have a critical contribution to the QS-dependent regulation on gene expression and the phenotypic traits related to it.

The fish pathogenAliivibrio salmonicidaLFI1238 can degrade and metabolize chitin despite major gene loss in the chitinolytic pathway

“…Interestingly, transcription of Al. salmonicida pseudogenes (including chitinase-related pseudogenes) has been observed (44–46). In addition, Al.…”