RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Decoding a Second Messenger’s Message
JF Science Signaling
JO Sci. Signal.
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP ec56
OP ec56
DO 10.1126/scisignal.3109ec56
VO 3
IS 109
A1 Riddihough, Guy
YR 2010
UL http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/3/109/ec56.abstract
AB Biofilms are aggregates of bacteria on a surface often associated with increased resistance to antibiotics and stress. In Vibrio cholerae, the bacterial species that causes cholera, biofilm formation is promoted by the bacterial second messenger cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) and involves the transcription regulator VpsT. Krasteva et al. show that VpsT is itself a receptor for c-di-GMP and that binding of the small signaling molecule promotes VpsT dimerization, which is required for DNA recognition and transcriptional regulation. As well as activating components of the biofilm pathway, VpsT also down-regulates motility genes in a c-di-GMP–dependent manner. P. V. Krasteva, J. C. N. Fong, N. J. Shikuma, S. Beyhan, M. V. A. S. Navarro, F. H. Yildiz, H. Sondermann, Vibrio cholerae VpsT regulates matrix production and motility by directly sensing cyclic di-GMP. Science 327, 866–868 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]