Here, we show that AHLs can be employed by Deinococcus radiodurans, which belongs to the unique phylum Deinococcus-Thermus and is known for its cellular resistance to environmental stresses. An AHL-mediated quorum-sensing system (DqsI/DqsR) was identified in D. radiodurans. We found that under non-stress conditions, the AHL level was "shielded" by quorum quenching enzymes, whereas AHLs accumulated when D. radiodurans was exposed to oxidative stress. Upon exposure to H2 O2 , AHL synthetic enzymes (DqsI) were immediately induced, while the expression of quorum-quenching enzymes began to increase approximately 30 min after exposure to H2 O2 , as shown by time-course analyses of gene expression. Both dqsI mutant (DMDqsI) and dqsR mutant (MDqsR) were more sensitive to oxidative stress compared with the wild-type strain. Exogenous AHLs (5 μM) could completely restore the survival fraction of DMDqsI under oxidative stress. RNA-seq analysis showed that a number of genes involved in stress-response, cellular cleansing, and DNA repair had altered transcriptional levels in MDqsR. The DqsR, acting as a regulator of quorum sensing, controls gene expression along with AHLs. Hence, the DqsIR-mediated quorum sensing that mediates gene regulation is an adaptive strategy for D. radiodurans in response to oxidative stresses and is conserved in the extremophilic Deinococcus bacteria.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.