Caenorhabditis elegans recognizes a bacterial quorum-sensing signal molecule through the AWCON neuron.

TitleCaenorhabditis elegans recognizes a bacterial quorum-sensing signal molecule through the AWCON neuron.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsWerner, KM, Perez, LJ, Ghosh, R, Semmelhack, MF, Bassler, BL
JournalJ Biol Chem
Volume289
Issue38
Pagination26566-26573
Date Published2014 Sep 19
ISSN1083-351X
KeywordsAnimals, Caenorhabditis elegans, Chemoreceptor Cells, Chemotaxis, Ketones, Quorum Sensing, Vibrio cholerae
Abstract

<p>In a process known as quorum sensing, bacteria use chemicals called autoinducers for cell-cell communication. Population-wide detection of autoinducers enables bacteria to orchestrate collective behaviors. In the animal kingdom detection of chemicals is vital for success in locating food, finding hosts, and avoiding predators. This behavior, termed chemotaxis, is especially well studied in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Here we demonstrate that the Vibrio cholerae autoinducer (S)-3-hydroxytridecan-4-one, termed CAI-1, influences chemotaxis in C. elegans. C. elegans prefers V. cholerae that produces CAI-1 over a V. cholerae mutant defective for CAI-1 production. The position of the CAI-1 ketone moiety is the key feature driving CAI-1-directed nematode behavior. CAI-1 is detected by the C. elegans amphid sensory neuron AWC(ON). Laser ablation of the AWC(ON) cell, but not other amphid sensory neurons, abolished chemoattraction to CAI-1. These analyses define the structural features of a bacterial-produced signal and the nematode chemosensory neuron that permit cross-kingdom interaction.</p>

DOI10.1074/jbc.M114.573832
Alternate JournalJ Biol Chem
PubMed ID25092291
PubMed Central IDPMC4176233
Grant ListR01 GM065859 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
5R01GM065859 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
/ HHMI / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States