Signal Destruction Tunes the Zone of Activation in Spatially Distributed Signaling Networks

Diverse microbial communities coordinate group behaviors through signal exchange, such as the exchange of acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) by Gram-negative bacteria. Cellular communication is prone to interference by neighboring microbes. One mechanism of interference is signal destruction through the production of an enzyme that cleaves the signaling molecule. Here we examine the ability of one such interference enzyme, AiiA, to modulate signal propagation in a spatially distributed system of bacteria. We have developed an experimental assay to measure signal transduction and implement a theoretical model of signaling dynamics to predict how the system responds to interference. We show that titration of an interfering strain into a signaling network tunes the spatial range of activation over the centimeter length scale, quantifying the robustness of the signaling network to signal destruction and demonstrating the ability to program systems-level responses of spatially heterogeneous cellular networks.