Extracellular proteolysis of tandemly duplicated pheromone propeptides affords additional complexity to bacterial quorum sensing.

Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101183755 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1545-7885 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15449173 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS Biol Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science, [2003]-

Quorum Sensing* ; Pheromones*/metabolism ; Bacillus subtilis*/metabolism ; Bacillus subtilis*/genetics ; Proteolysis*; Bacterial Proteins/metabolism ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Bacteriophages/metabolism ; Bacteriophages/genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence

Bacterial interactions are vital for adapting to changing environments, with quorum sensing (QS) systems playing a central role in coordinating behaviors through small signaling molecules. The RRNPPA family is the prevalent QS systems in Bacillota and mediating communication through secreted oligopeptides, which are processed into active pheromones by extracellular proteases. Notably, in several cases the propeptides show the presence of multiple putative pheromones within their sequences, which has been proposed as a mechanism to diversify peptide-receptor specificity and potentially facilitate new functions. However, neither the processes governing the maturation of propeptides containing multiple pheromones, nor their functional significance has been evaluated. Here, using 2 Rap systems from bacteriophages infecting Bacillus subtilis that exhibit different types of pheromone duplication in their propeptides, we investigate the maturation process and the molecular and functional activities of the produced pheromones. Our results reveal that distinct maturation processes generate multiple mature pheromones, which bind to receptors with varying affinities but produce identical structural and biological responses. These findings add additional layers in the complexity of QS communication and regulation, opening new possibilities for microbial social behaviors, highlighting the intricate nature of bacterial interactions and adaptation.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Felipe-Ruiz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

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0 (Pheromones)
0 (Bacterial Proteins)

Date Created: 20240813 Date Completed: 20240823 Latest Revision: 20240825

20240826

PMC11343458

10.1371/journal.pbio.3002744

39137235