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Plan B for quorum sensing

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses several intertwined cell-cell communication systems, called quorum sensing (QS) systems, to control gene expression. A QS signal–dependent transcription factor called LasR is at the top of the network. Mutations in lasR inactivate QS, but a new study has revealed an alternate signaling pathway that allows Pseudomonas aeruginosa to bypass LasR and activate a subset of quorum-controlled genes in times of stress.

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Figure 1: The old and the new view of QS circuitry in P. aeruginosa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ajai A. Dandekar is in the Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA.,

    Ajai A Dandekar

  2. E. Peter Greenberg is in the Department of Microbiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA.,

    E. Peter Greenberg

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  1. Ajai A Dandekar
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  2. E. Peter Greenberg
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Correspondence to E. Peter Greenberg.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Dandekar, A., Greenberg, E. Plan B for quorum sensing. Nat Chem Biol 9, 292–293 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1233

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