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Two-component regulator of Enterococcus faecalis cytolysin responds to quorum-sensing autoinduction

Nature volume 415, pages 84–87 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Bacteria of the genus Enterococcus are the main causes of highly antibiotic-resistant infections that are acquired in hospitals1,2. Many clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis produce an exotoxin called cytolysin that contributes to bacterial virulence3. In addition to its toxin activity, the cytolysin is bactericidal for nearly all Gram-positive organisms4. An understanding of conditions that regulate cytolysin expression has advanced little since its initial description5. Here we show that the products of two genes, cylR1 and cylR2, which lack homologues of known function, work together to repress transcription of cytolysin genes. Derepression occurs at a specific cell density when one of the cytolysin subunits reaches an extracellular threshold concentration. These observations form the basis of a model for the autoinduction of the cytolysin by a quorum-sensing mechanism involving a two-component regulatory system.

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Figure 1: Model of cytolysin maturation and regulation.
Figure 2: Transcriptional fusions to the β-galactosidase (lacZ) reporter gene in the shuttle vector pTCV-lac9.
Figure 3: Induction of reporter gene expression by CylLS′′.
Figure 4: CylLS′′ induces transcription of cylLL and cylL851S, but not cylR1 or cylR2.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Coburn, L. Hancock, M. Engelbert, C. Cox, K. Hatter, D. Johnson, B. Jett and K. Gilmore for technical support and critical review of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Research to Prevent Blindness.

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  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Department of Ophthalmology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 975 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, 73104, Oklahoma, USA

    Wolfgang Haas, Brett D. Shepard & Michael S. Gilmore

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  1. Wolfgang Haas
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Correspondence to Michael S. Gilmore.

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Haas, W., Shepard, B. & Gilmore, M. Two-component regulator of Enterococcus faecalis cytolysin responds to quorum-sensing autoinduction. Nature 415, 84–87 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415084a

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