Vibrio cholerae VpsT Regulates Matrix Production and Motility by Directly Sensing Cyclic di-GMP

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 327; no. 5967; pp. 866 - 868
• Main Authors: Krasteva, Petya V, Fong, Jiunn C.N, Shikuma, Nicholas J, Beyhan, Sinem, Navarro, Marcos V.A.S, Yildiz, Fitnat H, Sondermann, Holger
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 12-02-2010; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Amino Acid Motifs; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Bacteriology; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Binding; Binding Sites; Biofilms; Biofilms - growth & development; Biological and medical sciences; Cellular biology; Conversion; Crystallography, X-Ray; Cyclic GMP - analogs & derivatives; Cyclic GMP - metabolism; Detection; Dimerization; Dimers; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - metabolism; Extracellular Matrix - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene expression regulation; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; Genes; Genetic vectors; Microbiology; MICROORGANISMS; Models, Molecular; Motility, taxis; Movement; national synchrotron light source; PHOSPHORYLATION; Point Mutation; Polysaccharides, Bacterial - genetics; Polysaccharides, Bacterial - metabolism; PRODUCTION; Protein Folding; Protein Multimerization; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Regulator genes; Regulators; Signal Transduction; Switches; Transcription Factors - chemistry; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic; Transcriptional regulatory elements; Vibrio; Vibrio cholerae; Vibrio cholerae O1 - cytology; Vibrio cholerae O1 - genetics; Vibrio cholerae O1 - physiology; Bacteria; Vibrionaceae; Motility; Vibrio cholerae
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1181185

Microorganisms can switch from a planktonic, free-swimming life-style to a sessile, colonial state, called a biofilm, which confers resistance to environmental stress. Conversion between the motile and biofilm life-styles has been attributed to increased levels of the prokaryotic second messenger cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP), yet the signaling mechanisms mediating such a global switch are poorly understood. Here we show that the transcriptional regulator VpsT from Vibrio cholerae directly senses c-di-GMP to inversely control extracellular matrix production and motility, which identifies VpsT as a master regulator for biofilm formation. Rather than being regulated by phosphorylation, VpsT undergoes a change in oligomerization on c-di-GMP binding.