Quorum sensing autoinducers AHLs protect Shewanella baltica against phage infection

Int J Food Microbiol. 2023 Oct 16:403:110304. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110304. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) plays an important role in phage-host interactions. Shewanella baltica can't produce the N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) signal molecules but can eavesdrop on exogenous AHLs through its LuxR receptor. However, no clear evidence exists regarding the involvement of AHLs-mediated QS systems in S. baltica in regulating phage infection. Here, we report that AHLs modulated the phage resistance of S. baltica OS155. Specifically, we characterized a S. baltica phage vB_Sb_QDWS and preliminarily identified that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an important receptor for phage vB_Sb_QDWS. AHLs could protect S. baltica against phage infection by decreasing LPS-mediated phage adsorption. The expression of genes galU and tkt, which are essential for LPS synthesis, down-regulated significantly in response to AHLs autoinducers. Our finding confirms the important roles of QS in virus-host interactions and would be helpful to develop novel phage strategies for food spoilage control.

Keywords: Adsorption; N-acylhomoserine lactones; Phage resistance; Quorum sensing; Shewanella baltica.

MeSH terms

  • Acyl-Butyrolactones* / metabolism
  • Bacterial Proteins* / metabolism
  • Bacteriophages* / physiology
  • Gene Expression
  • Lipopolysaccharides / metabolism
  • Quorum Sensing
  • Receptors, Virus / metabolism
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism
  • Shewanella* / metabolism
  • Shewanella* / virology
  • Signal Transduction
  • Trans-Activators* / metabolism
  • Virus Attachment

Substances

  • Acyl-Butyrolactones
  • LuxR autoinducer binding proteins
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Trans-Activators
  • Receptors, Virus
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Lipopolysaccharides

Supplementary concepts

  • Shewanella baltica