距離でのクオラム活性化:オートインダクター信号の拡散による遺伝子調節の空間時間的なパターン
Gabriel E Dilanji1, Jessica B Langebrake, Patrick De Leenheer
1Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-8440, United States.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|March 1, 2012
まとめ
バクテリアのクオラムセンシング (QS) は,遺伝子発現を同期するために,拡散型オートインダクターを用いる. この研究では,QSは,異質な環境でも,拡散を通じて,センチメートル以上の距離で細菌の行動を効果的に調整できることを明らかにしています.
科学分野:
- 微生物学 微生物学とは
- システム生物学 システム生物学
- バイオフィジックス 生物物理学
背景:
- クオラムセンシング (QS) は,細菌がオートインダクター分子を用いて集団的に遺伝子発現を調節することを可能にします.
- QSは通常,よく混ぜられた培養物に研究されますが,細菌は,拡散が信号伝送を支配する異質な環境でしばしば存在します.
研究 の 目的:
- 拡散によって媒介される距離におけるQSの有効な範囲と同期能力を調査する.
- 拡散型自己誘導体への反応として,遺伝子発現の空間時間的なパターンを探求する.
主な方法:
- 実験的な測定と数学モデリングを組み合わせた.
- アガールレーンにQSバクテリアを埋め込み,片端に外因的オートインダクターを導入しました.
- 信号が拡散するにつれて,空間と時間におけるQSレポーター遺伝子発現を測定した.
主要な成果:
- 拡散したオートインダクターは,約10時間以内に,約1cmの距離で効果的にレポーター遺伝子を活性化させました.
- 野生型のQS株で独特の時空刺激パターンを観察した.
- QSのアクティベーションパターンは,信号の移動距離に対して驚くべき無感性を示した.
結論:
- 自動誘導体の拡散輸送は,細菌の遺伝子発現をマクロスカプティックな距離で同期することができます.
- 拡散,バクテリアの増殖,協同活性化を含む数学的モデルは,実験観察を正確に再現した.
- QSは,空間的に複雑な,拡散制限のある環境でも,細菌の行動を調整するのに有効です.
関連する概念動画
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Quorum sensing is a mechanism of bacterial communication that enables coordinated gene expression in response to changes in population density. This facilitates collective behaviors that enhance survival, resource acquisition, and ecological adaptation. This process relies on small signaling molecules called autoinducers that accumulate as bacterial populations grow. When a critical threshold concentration of autoinducers is reached, bacterial cells collectively modify gene expression,...
Bacterial Signaling
Bacterial signaling can occur within bacteria (intracellular) or between bacteria (intercellular). At times, a group of bacteria behaves like a community. To achieve this, they engage in quorum sensing, the perception of higher cell density that causes changes in gene expression. Quorum sensing involves both extracellular and intracellular signaling. The signaling cascade starts with a molecule called an autoinducer (AI). Individual bacteria produce AIs that move out of the bacterial cell...
Gene Regulation During Sporulation
Sporulation is a complex developmental process that allows certain Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium species, to survive extreme environmental conditions. This process is tightly regulated by a series of signaling cascades and transcriptional controls, ensuring the formation of a highly resistant endospore.Sporulation is triggered by unfavorable conditions, such as nutrient depletion, and is governed by a phosphorelay system. One of the sensor kinases, such as...
Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses
The physiological function of a cell and cellular communication are outcomes of a range of extrinsic signals, intracellular signaling pathways, and cellular responses. No two cell types express the same repertoire of signaling components. Receptors are highly selective for their cognate ligands, but once activated, they can alter multiple cellular processes such as DNA transcription, protein synthesis, and metabolic activity.
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
Constitutive and Regulated Gene Expression
Gene expression in prokaryotes is governed by constitutive and regulated systems, allowing cells to balance the production of essential proteins with adaptive responses to environmental changes.Constitutive Gene ExpressionConstitutive, or housekeeping, genes are continuously expressed as they encode proteins vital for fundamental cellular processes. These include enzymes for glycolysis, ribosomal components for protein synthesis, and proteins involved in DNA replication. Their constant...
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Gene expression can be regulated at almost every step from gene to protein. Transcription is the step that is most commonly regulated. This involves the binding of proteins to short regulatory sequences on the DNA. This association can either promote or inhibit the transcription of a gene associated with the respective sequence.
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...


