This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hanzelka, B. L.
Right arrow Articles by Greenberg, E. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hanzelka, B. L.
Right arrow Articles by Greenberg, E. P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5766-5770, Vol. 181, No. 18
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Acylhomoserine Lactone Synthase Activity of the Vibrio fischeri AinS Protein

Brian L. Hanzelka,1 Matthew R. Parsek,1 Dale L. Val,2 Paul V. Dunlap,3 John E. Cronan Jr.,2,4 and E. P. Greenberg1,*

Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 522421; Department of Microbiology2 and Department of Biochemistry,4 University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801; and Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 212023

Received 26 April 1999/Accepted 8 July 1999

Acylhomoserine lactones, which serve as quorum-sensing signals in gram-negative bacteria, are produced by members of the LuxI family of synthases. LuxI is a Vibrio fischeri enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone from an acyl-acyl carrier protein and S-adenosylmethionine. Another V. fischeri gene, ainS, directs the synthesis of N-octanoylhomoserine lactone. The AinS protein shows no significant sequence similarity with LuxI family members, but it does show sequence similarity with the Vibrio harveyi LuxM protein. The luxM gene is required for the synthesis of N-(3-hydroxybutyryl)-L-homoserine lactone. To gain insights about whether AinS and LuxM represent a second family of acylhomoserine lactone synthases, we have purified AinS as a maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusion protein. The purified MBP-AinS fusion protein catalyzed the synthesis of N-octanoylhomoserine lactone from S-adenosylmethionine and either octanoyl-acyl carrier protein or, to a lesser extent, octanoyl coenzyme A. With the exception that octanoyl coenzyme A served as an acyl substrate for the MBP-AinS fusion protein, the substrates for and reaction kinetics of the MBP-AinS fusion protein were similar to those of the several LuxI family members previously studied. We conclude that AinS is an acylhomoserine lactone synthase and that it represents a second family of such enzymes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Phone: (319) 335-7775. Fax: (319) 335-7949. E-mail: epgreen{at}blue.weeg.uiowa.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5766-5770, Vol. 181, No. 18
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Williams, P. (2007). Quorum sensing, communication and cross-kingdom signalling in the bacterial world. Microbiology 153: 3923-3938 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Williams, P., Winzer, K., Chan, W. C, Camara, M. (2007). Look who's talking: communication and quorum sensing in the bacterial world. Phil Trans R Soc B 362: 1119-1134 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gonzalez, J. E., Keshavan, N. D. (2006). Messing with Bacterial Quorum Sensing. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 70: 859-875 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kasai, S. (2006). Freshwater Bioluminescence in Vibrio albensis (Vibrio cholerae biovar albensis) NCIMB 41 Is Caused by a Two-Nucleotide Deletion in luxO.. J Biochem 139: 471-482 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gonzalez, J. E., Marketon, M. M. (2003). Quorum Sensing in Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobia. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67: 574-592 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Huang, J. J., Han, J.-I., Zhang, L.-H., Leadbetter, J. R. (2003). Utilization of Acyl-Homoserine Lactone Quorum Signals for Growth by a Soil Pseudomonad and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 5941-5949 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Flagan, S., Ching, W.-K., Leadbetter, J. R. (2003). Arthrobacter Strain VAI-A Utilizes Acyl-Homoserine Lactone Inactivation Products and Stimulates Quorum Signal Biodegradation by Variovorax paradoxus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 909-916 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hengge-Aronis, R. (2002). Signal Transduction and Regulatory Mechanisms Involved in Control of the {sigma}S (RpoS) Subunit of RNA Polymerase. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 66: 373-395 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Michael, B., Smith, J. N., Swift, S., Heffron, F., Ahmer, B. M. M. (2001). SdiA of Salmonella enterica Is a LuxR Homolog That Detects Mixed Microbial Communities. J. Bacteriol. 183: 5733-5742 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Milton, D. L., Chalker, V. J., Kirke, D., Hardman, A., Cámara, M., Williams, P. (2001). The LuxM Homologue VanM from Vibrio anguillarum Directs the Synthesis of N-(3-Hydroxyhexanoyl)homoserine Lactone and N-Hexanoylhomoserine Lactone. J. Bacteriol. 183: 3537-3547 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Schauder, S., Bassler, B. L. (2001). The languages of bacteria. Genes Dev. 15: 1468-1480 [Full Text]  
  • Leadbetter, J. R., Greenberg, E. P. (2000). Metabolism of Acyl-Homoserine Lactone Quorum-Sensing Signals by Variovorax paradoxus. J. Bacteriol. 182: 6921-6926 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Laue, B. E., Jiang, Y., Chhabra, S. R., Jacob, S., Stewart, G. S. A. B., Hardman, A., Downie, J. A., O’Gara, F., Williams, P. (2000). The biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 produces the Rhizobium small bacteriocin, N-(3-hydroxy-7-cis-tetradecenoyl)homoserine lactone, via HdtS, a putative novel N-acylhomoserine lactone synthase. Microbiology 146: 2469-2480 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Parsek, M. R., Greenberg, E. P. (2000). Acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria: A signaling mechanism involved in associations with higher organisms. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 8789-8793 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Callahan, S. M., Dunlap, P. V. (2000). LuxR- and Acyl-Homoserine-Lactone-Controlled Non-lux Genes Define a Quorum-Sensing Regulon in Vibrio fischeri. J. Bacteriol. 182: 2811-2822 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»