Many bacteria communicate with each other through signalling molecules, a process known as cell-to-cell communication. During this process, it is important for the signalling molecules to: (1) reach the target cells; and (2) to be received by the cognate receptor. Barriers such as the presence of extracellular matrix may prevent signals from reaching their targets; however, the influence of the extracellular matrix on cell-to-cell communication has scarcely been studied. Here, we demonstrate that the overproduction of an extracellular matrix, alginate, in a Pseudomonas aeruginosa mucoid variant, alters cell-to-cell communication by interfering with the response to quinolone signals while having no effect on N-acyl-L-homoserine lactones. The inhibition of quinolone signalling by alginate is limited to the alginate overproducer and has no effect on neighbour cells that do not produce alginate. Our study indicates that alginate overproduction affects the cell-to-cell communication of the mucoid variant, which may results in different downstream behaviours when it emerges in the presence of the wild-type (WT).
© 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.