Quorum sensing is a chemical communication process in which bacteria use the production, release, and detection of signal molecules called autoinducers to orchestrate collective behaviors. The human pathogen Vibrio cholerae requires quorum sensing to infect the small intestine. There, V. cholerae encounters the absence of oxygen and the presence of bile salts. We show that these two stimuli differentially affect quorum-sensing function and, in turn, V. cholerae pathogenicity. First, during anaerobic growth, V. cholerae does not produce the CAI-1 autoinducer, while it continues to produce the DPO autoinducer, suggesting that CAI-1 may encode information specific to the aerobic lifestyle of V. cholerae. Second, the quorum-sensing receptor-transcription factor called VqmA, which detects the DPO autoinducer, also detects the lack of oxygen and the presence of bile salts. Detection occurs via oxygen-, bile salt-, and redox-responsive disulfide bonds that alter VqmA DNA binding activity. We propose that VqmA serves as an information processing hub that integrates quorum-sensing information, redox status, the presence or absence of oxygen, and host cues. In response to the information acquired through this mechanism, V. cholerae appropriately modulates its virulence output.

中文翻译：

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霍乱弧菌群体感应蛋白VqmA将细胞密度，环境和宿主来源的提示整合到毒力控制中。

群体感应是一种化学交流过程，细菌在其中利用产生，释放和检测称为自动诱导剂的信号分子来协调集体行为。人类病原体霍乱弧菌需要群体感应才能感染小肠。那里，霍乱弧菌遇到缺氧和胆汁盐的问题。我们表明这两个刺激差异影响群体感应功能，反过来，霍乱弧菌致病性。首先，在厌氧生长过程中，霍乱弧菌不产生CAI-1自诱导物，而继续产生DPO自诱导物，这表明CAI-1可能编码霍乱弧菌有氧生活方式特有的信息。。其次，称为VqmA的群体感应受体转录因子检测DPO自诱导剂，也检测缺氧和胆汁盐的存在。通过氧，胆汁盐和氧化还原响应的二硫键改变VqmA DNA结合活性进行检测。我们建议VqmA充当信息处理中心，该中心集成了群体感应信息，氧化还原状态，是否存在氧气以及宿主线索。响应通过这种机制获得的信息，霍乱弧菌适当地调节其毒力输出。