The End of the Reign of a "master Regulator''? A Defect in Function of the LasR Quorum Sensing Regulator is a Common Feature of Isolates

Overview

Journal mBio

Publisher American Society for Microbiology

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2024 Feb 5

PMID 38315035

Authors

Mylene C Trottier

Thays de Oliveira Pereira

Marie-Christine Groleau

Lucas R Hoffman

Ajai A Dandekar

Eric Deziel

Affiliations

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Abstract

, a bacterium causing infections in immunocompromised individuals, regulates several of its virulence functions using three interlinked quorum sensing (QS) systems (, , and ). Despite its presumed importance in regulating virulence, dysfunction of the system regulator LasR occurs frequently in strains isolated from various environments, including clinical infections. This newfound abundance of LasR-defective strains calls into question existing hypotheses regarding their selection. Indeed, current assumptions concerning factors driving the emergence of LasR-deficient isolates and the role of LasR in the QS hierarchy must be reconsidered. Here, we propose that LasR is not the primary master regulator of QS in all genetic backgrounds, even though it remains ecologically significant. We also revisit and complement current knowledge on the ecology of LasR-dependent QS in , discuss the hypotheses explaining the putative adaptive benefits of selecting against LasR function, and consider the implications of this renewed understanding.

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