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Science 22 July 1994:
Vol. 265. no. 5171, pp. 537 - 539
DOI: 10.1126/science.7545940
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Articles

Science, Vol 265, Issue 5171, 537-539
Copyright © 1994 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Sensing starvation: a homoserine lactone--dependent signaling pathway in Escherichia coli

GW Huisman and R Kolter

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.

When nutrients become limiting, many bacteria differentiate and become resistant to environmental stresses. For Escherichia coli, this process is mediated by the sigma s subunit of RNA polymerase. Expression of sigma s was induced by homoserine lactone, a metabolite synthesized from intermediates in threonine biosynthesis. Homoserine lactone-dependent synthesis of sigma s was prevented by overexpression of a newly identified protein, RspA. The function of homoserine lactone derivatives in many cell density-dependent phenomena and the similarity of RspA to a Streptomyces ambofaciens protein suggest that synthesis of homoserine lactone may be a general signal of starvation.


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