Integrating small molecule signalling and H-NS antagonism in Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium with two chromosomes

H-NS is a well-established silencer of virulence gene transcription in the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Biofilm formation aids V. cholerae in colonizing both its host and its external environments, and H-NS silences biofilm gene expression. Cyclic-di-guanosine monophosphate acts through the DNA binding proteins VpsR and VpsT to overcome H-NS-mediated repression of biofilm genes, driving a transition between a planktonic and a colonial/biofilm lifestyle. The H-NS binding pattern has now been charted on both chromosomes in V. cholerae, but whether or not this abundant DNA-binding-and-bridging protein plays any roles in nucleoid organization in this bacterium remains an open question.