Identification of a Quorum Sensing System Regulating Capsule Polysaccharide Production and Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus zooepidemicus

In this study, inactivation of rgg/shp system led to a decreased exopolysaccharide (HA) production, indicating the rgg/shp system has a positive regulatory role on the capsule HA production in S. zooepidemicus. Extracellular polysaccharides have long been known to affect biofilm formation in other bacteria (Vu et al., 2009; Limoli et al., 2015). Our study did show that rgg/shp system positively affects the production of biofilm in S. zooepidemicus, however at the current stage, we cannot conclude that rgg/shp system affects the biofilm formation through the regulation of the extracellular polysaccharide. Altogether, our data support that rgg/shp system positively regulates both capsule polysaccharide production and biofilm formation in S. zooepidemicus. Although the direct target of the Rgg/Shp signaling pathaway and its mechanism in the regulation of exopolysaccharide production and biofilm formation remains unknown at current stage, we have provided the groundwork for studies aimed at revealing the role of rgg/shp system in coordinating bacterial social behavior in S. zooepidemicus. An increased understanding of how cell-cell signaling systems work is leading to new possibilities for manipulating bacterial functions. In the clinical area, some interesting studies have been conducted recently to target QS as a tool to combat or modulate infections associated with bacterial biofilms (Aggarwal et al., 2015; Ishii et al., 2017). In biotechnology area, QS in bacteria has been a...
Source: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research