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Vibrio parahaemolyticus cqsA controls production of quorum sensing signal molecule 3-hydroxyundecan-4-one and regulates colony morphology

  • Microbial Genetics, Genomics and Molecular Biology
  • Published:
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An Erratum to this article was published on 02 January 2020

This article has been updated

Abstract

In order to adapt to different environments, Vibrio parahaemolyticus employed a complicated quorum sensing system to orchestrate gene expression and diverse colony morphology patterns. In this study, the function of the putative quorum sensing signal synthase gene cqsA (VPA0711 in V. Parahaemolyticus strain RIMD2210633 genome) was investigated. The cloning and expression of V. parahaemolyticus cqsA in Escherichia coli system induced the production of a new quorum sensing signal that was found in its culture supernatant. The signal was purified by high performance liquid chromatography methods and determined to be 3-hydroxyundecan- 4-one by indirect and direct mass spectra assays. The deletion of cqsA in RIMD2210633 changed V. parahaemolyticus colony morphology from the classical ‘fried-egg’ shape (thick and opaque in the center, while thin and translucent in the edge) of the wild-type colony to a ‘pancake’ shape (no significant difference between the centre and the edge) of the cqsA deleted colony. This morphological change could be restored by complementary experiment with cqsA gene or the signal extract. In addition, the expression of opaR, a well-known quorum sensing regulatory gene, could be up-regulated by cqsA deletion. Our results suggested that V. parahaemolyticus used cqsA to produce 3-hydroxyundecan-4-one signal and thereby regulated colony morphology and other quorum sensing-associated behaviors.

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Change history

  • 02 January 2020

    In the article by Wu <Emphasis Type="Italic">et al.</Emphasis> published in Journal of Microbiology 2019; 57, 1105–1114, the figure 8 is unfortunately incorrect. The figure 8 should be corrected as below.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31760492), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. S2012030006235), and the Science and Technology Planning Project from Health and Family Planning Commission of Jiangxi Province (No. 20172008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Collaboration Unit for Field Epidemiology of State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Nanchang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanchang, 330038, P. R. China

    Kui Wu, Yangyun Zheng, Haiying Chen, Yongyan Long, Xiansheng Ni & Junling Tu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology South China, Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou, 510070, P. R. China

    Kui Wu & Qingping Wu

  3. College of Marine Technology and Environment, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, P. R. China

    Songzhe Fu

  4. State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, P. R. China

    Kui Wu, Biao Kan & Yongyan Long

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  1. Kui Wu
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Correspondence to Kui Wu or Qingping Wu.

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Wu, K., Zheng, Y., Wu, Q. et al. Vibrio parahaemolyticus cqsA controls production of quorum sensing signal molecule 3-hydroxyundecan-4-one and regulates colony morphology. J Microbiol. 57, 1105–1114 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-019-9379-x

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