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Published on: March 29, 2015
N-acyl-homoserine-lactones signaling as a critical control point for phosphorus entrapment by multi-species microbial
Ying Xu1, Thomas Curtis2, Jan Dolfing3
1State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 71 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; Zigui Three Gorges Reservoir Ecosystem, Observation and Research Station of Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China, Shuitianba Zigui, Yichang 443605, China; College of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
Quorum sensing (QS) has been extensively studied in pure stains of microorganisms, but the ecological roles of QS in multi-species microbial aggregates are poorly understood due to the aggregates' heterogeneity and complexity, in particular the phosphorus (P) entrapment, a key aspect of element cycling. Using periphytic biofilm as a microbial-aggregate model, we addressed how QS signaling via N-acyl-homoserine-lactones (AHLs) regulated P entrapment. The most-abundant AHLs detected were C8-HSL, 3OC8-HSL, and C12-HSL, are the primary regulator of P entrapment in the periphytic biofilm. QS signaling-AHL is a beneficial molecule for bacterial growth in periphytic biofilm and the addition of these three AHLs optimized polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) community. Growth promotion was accompanied by up-regulation of pyrimidine, purine and energy metabolism. Both intra- and extra-cellular P entrapment were enhanced in the addition of AHLs. AHLs increased extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production to drive extracellular P entrapment, via up-regulating amino acids biosynthesis and amino sugar/nucleotide sugar metabolism. Also, AHLs improved intracellular P entrapment potential by regulating genes involved in inorganic-P accumulation (ppk, ppx) and P uptake and transport (pit, pstSCAB). This proof-of-concept evidence about how QS signaling regulates P entrapment by microbial aggregates paves the way for managing QS to enhance P removal by microbial aggregates in aquatic environments.
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