Ratiometric population sensing by a pump-probe signaling system in Bacillus subtilis

Heiko Babel, Pablo Naranjo-Meneses, Stephanie Trauth, Sonja Schulmeister, Gabriele Malengo, Victor Sourjik and Ilka B. Bischofs ()
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Heiko Babel: BioQuant Center of the University of Heidelberg
Pablo Naranjo-Meneses: BioQuant Center of the University of Heidelberg
Stephanie Trauth: BioQuant Center of the University of Heidelberg
Sonja Schulmeister: BioQuant Center of the University of Heidelberg
Gabriele Malengo: Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Victor Sourjik: Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Ilka B. Bischofs: BioQuant Center of the University of Heidelberg

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Communication by means of diffusible signaling molecules facilitates higher-level organization of cellular populations. Gram-positive bacteria frequently use signaling peptides, which are either detected at the cell surface or ‘probed’ by intracellular receptors after being pumped into the cytoplasm. While the former type is used to monitor cell density, the functions of pump-probe networks are less clear. Here we show that pump-probe networks can, in principle, perform different tasks and mediate quorum-sensing, chronometric and ratiometric control. We characterize the properties of the prototypical PhrA-RapA system in Bacillus subtilis using FRET. We find that changes in extracellular PhrA concentrations are tracked rather poorly; instead, cells accumulate and strongly amplify the signal in a dose-dependent manner. This suggests that the PhrA-RapA system, and others like it, have evolved to sense changes in the composition of heterogeneous populations and infer the fraction of signal-producing cells in a mixed population to coordinate cellular behaviors.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14840-w

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