PqsE Expands and Differentially Modulates the RhlR Quorum Sensing Regulon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Morgana Letizia, Marta Mellini, Alessandra Fortuna, Paolo Visca, Francesco Imperi, Livia Leoni, Giordano Rampioni
Abstract
. While it is known that PqsE can stimulate the ability of RhlR to control some virulence factors, no data are available to allow clear discrimination of the PqsE and RhlR regulons. The data produced in this study demonstrate that PqsE mainly impacts the P. aeruginosa transcriptome via an RhlR-dependent pathway and splits the RhlR regulon into PqsE-dependent and PqsE-independent subregulons. Besides contributing to untangling of the complex QS network of P. aeruginosa, our data confirm that both PqsE and RhlR are suitable targets for the development of antivirulence drugs.
Topics & Concepts
Quorum sensingRegulonPseudomonas aeruginosaBiologyTranscriptomeVirulenceGeneGeneticsRegulation of gene expressionComputational biologyGene expressionBacteriaBacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyAntibiotic Resistance in Bacteria