Chemorepulsion from the Quorum Signal Autoinducer-2 Promotes Helicobacter pylori Biofilm Dispersal
- Jeneva K. Andersona,
- Julie Y. Huangb,
- Christopher Wredena,
- Emily Goers Sweeneya,
- John Goersc,
- S. James Remingtond,
- Karen Guillemina
- aInstitute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
- bDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
- cDepartment of Chemistry, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
- dDepartment of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
- Vanessa Sperandio, Editor
- Address correspondence to Karen Guillemin, guillemin{at}molbio.uoregon.edu.
IMPORTANCE
Bacterial biofilms are ubiquitous in nature, but the mechanisms governing their assembly and spatial organization are not fully understood. Bacterial communication through quorum sensing has been shown to influence biofilm growth through the regulation of biofilm genes. Our study revealed a new role for quorum sensing in biofilms through rapid chemotactic responses to quorum signals. Specifically, we studied how chemorepulsion of Helicobacter pylori from the universal quorum signal autoinducer-2 (AI-2) shapes the spatial organization of its biofilms. We demonstrate that the chemorepulsive response of H. pylori to AI-2 is necessary to promote its dispersal from biofilms grown on both abiotic and biotic surfaces and is sufficient to promote dispersal in a chemotaxis-dependent manner. This work has broad implications for understanding the mechanisms by which endogenously produced microbial compounds shape the assembly and spatial organization of microbial communities in their environments.
Footnotes
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Citation Anderson JK, Huang JY, Wreden C, Sweeney EG, Goers J, Remington SJ, Guillemin K. 2015. Chemorepulsion from the quorum signal autoinducer-2 promotes Helicobacter pylori biofilm dispersal. mBio 6(4):e00379-15. doi:10.1128/mBio.00379-15.
- Received 11 March 2015
- Accepted 5 June 2015
- Published 7 July 2015
- Copyright © 2015 Anderson et al.
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