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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2009, p. 1756-1764, Vol. 191, No. 6
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01290-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Social Interactions and Distribution of Bacillus subtilis Pherotypes at Microscale{triangledown}

Polonca Stefanic and Ines Mandic-Mulec*

University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Food Science and Technology, Vecna pot 111, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Received 15 September 2008/ Accepted 22 December 2008

Bacillus subtilis strains communicate through the comQXPA quorum sensing (QS) system, which regulates genes expressed during early stationary phase. A high polymorphism of comQXP' loci was found in closely related strains isolated from desert soil samples separated by distances ranging from meters to kilometers. The observed polymorphism comprised four communication groups (pherotypes), such that strains belonging to the same pherotype exchanged information efficiently but strains from different pherotypes failed to communicate. To determine whether the same level of polymorphism in the comQXP' QS system could be detected at microscale, B. subtilis isolates were obtained from two separate 1-cm3 soil samples, which were progressively divided into smaller sections. Cross-activation studies using pherotype-responsive reporter strains indicated the same number of communication pherotypes at microscale as previously determined at macroscale. Sequencing of the housekeeping gene gyrA and the QS comQ gene confirmed different evolutionary rates of these genes. Furthermore, an asymmetric communication response was detected inside the two pherotype clusters, suggesting continuous evolution of the QS system and possible development of new languages. To our knowledge, this is the first microscale study demonstrating the presence of different QS languages among isolates of one species, and the implications of this microscale diversity for microbial interactions are discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chair of Microbiology, Vecna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Phone: 386 1 423 33 88. Fax: 386 1 257 33 90. E-mail: ines.mandic{at}bf.uni-lj.si

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 December 2008.

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2009, p. 1756-1764, Vol. 191, No. 6
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01290-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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