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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Time-lapse Imaging of Bacterial Swarms and the Collective Stress Response
Published on: May 23, 2020
The leaderless communication peptide (LCP) class of quorum-sensing peptides is broadly distributed among Firmicutes
Shifu Aggarwal1,2, Elaine Huang1,2, Hackwon Do1,2,3
1Center for Molecular and Translational Human Infectious Diseases Research, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Abstract:
The human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes secretes a short peptide (leaderless communication peptide, LCP) that mediates intercellular communication and controls bacterial virulence through interaction with its receptor, RopB. Here, we show that LCP and RopB homologues are present in other Firmicutes. We experimentally validate that LCPs with distinct peptide communication codes act as bacterial intercellular signals and regulate gene expression in Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus porcinus, Enterococcus malodoratus and Limosilactobacillus reuteri. Our results indicate that LCPs are more widespread than previously thought, and their characterization may uncover new signaling mechanisms and roles in coordinating diverse bacterial traits.
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