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Volume 166, Issue 6

RRNPP-type quorum sensing affects solvent formation and sporulation in Open Access

Abstract

The strictly anaerobic bacterium is well known for its ability to convert sugars into organic acids and solvents, most notably the potential biofuel butanol. However, the regulation of its fermentation metabolism, in particular the shift from acid to solvent production, remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cell–cell communication plays a role in controlling the timing of this shift or the extent of solvent formation. Analysis of the available genome sequences revealed the presence of eight putative RRNPP-type quorum-sensing systems, here designated to , each consisting of an RRNPP-type regulator gene followed by a small open reading frame encoding a putative signalling peptide precursor. The identified regulator and signal peptide precursor genes were designated to and to , respectively. Triplicate regulator mutants were generated in strain ATCC 824 for each of the eight systems and screened for phenotypic changes. The mutants showed increased solvent formation during early solventogenesis and hence the QssB system was selected for further characterization. Overexpression of severely reduced solvent and endospore formation and this effect could be overcome by adding short synthetic peptides to the culture medium representing a specific region of the QspB signalling peptide precursor. In addition, overexpression of increased the production of acetone and butanol and the initial (48 h) titre of heat-resistant endospores. Together, these findings establish a role for QssB quorum sensing in the regulation of early solventogenesis and sporulation in .

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): butanol , Clostridium acetobutylicum , quorum sensing , RRNPP-type regulator , solventogenesis and sporulation
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/G016224/1)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Nigel P Minton
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/J014508/1)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Not Applicable
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/L013940/1)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Nigel P Minton
  • FP7 People: Marie-Curie Actions (Award 237942)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Nigel P Minton
© 2020 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2020-04-28
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RRNPP-type quorum sensing affects solvent formation and sporulation in Clostridium acetobutylicum
Microbiology 166, 579 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000916
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000916
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000916
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