Collaborative Research: Evolution of information processing in the Vibrio fischeri pheromone-signaling network

信息素信号控制着许多重要的细菌行为，从细菌与宿主之间的良性共生关系到细菌病原体在人体组织和器官中的定植。该项目的目的是了解当地环境（如宿主环境）如何影响信息素信号和细菌的行为，如定植。本项目将分子微生物学方法与物理和数学工具相结合，为这一过程提供更完整的实验和理论图景。该项目将通过培养研究生和本科生进行跨学科实验室研究来加强教育。这些研究经历将为学生在生物科学领域的广泛职业生涯做好准备。该项目还包括为中学科学教师提供正式培训经验，这些教师主要来自有大量学生来自服务不足人口的高中。费氏弧菌信息素信号传导的最重要元件是LuxI/LuxR信号合成酶/受体，它产生并检测3OC6高丝氨酸内酯（HSL）信息素，以及AinS/AinR合成酶/受体系统，它利用C8 HSL信息素驱动不同的信号级联。LuxR对两种HSL信号的识别所产生的串扰，Lux和Ain都是根据环境进行调制的事实，以及Lux和Ain级联中存在的正反馈，增强了这些系统的复杂性。这个项目的主要目标是了解系统如何从其环境中收集和集成信息。具体目标是：(i)了解关键调节因子LuxR及其变体如何整合来自两个HSL信号的信息，（ii）识别更广泛的信息素信号通路的激活状态，并探索环境输入如何导致特定输出，以及（iii）验证该信号系统的架构允许空间异构环境在延长的距离和时间尺度上触发人群范围内的响应的假设。该项目将使用细胞术和基因报告方法来表征LuxR相互作用和系统状态。它还将使用微流体和显微镜来探索异质环境中的信号动力学。研究结果有望对细菌如何利用环境线索来控制种群水平的行为产生新的见解。

Pheromone signaling controls many important bacterial behaviors, ranging from benign symbiotic relationships between bacteria and their hosts to colonization of human tissues and organs by bacterial pathogens. The aim of this project is to understand how the local environment (e.g., the environment in the host) affects pheromone signaling and bacterial behaviors such as colonization. This project combines molecular-based microbiology methods with physical and mathematical tools to develop a more complete experimental and theoretical picture of this process. The project will enhance education by training graduate and undergraduate students to perform cross-disciplinary laboratory research. These research experiences will prepare the students for a wide range of careers in the biosciences. The project also includes a formal training experience for secondary science teachers, primarily from high schools with large numbers of students from under-served populations. The most important elements of Vibrio fischeri pheromone signaling are the LuxI/LuxR signal-synthase/receptor, which produces and detects a 3OC6 homoserine lactone (HSL) pheromone, and the AinS/AinR synthase/receptor system, which employs a C8 HSL pheromone to drive a different signaling cascade. The complexity of these systems is enhanced by the crosstalk generated by LuxR's recognition of both HSL signals, by the fact that both Lux and Ain are modulated in response to the environment, and by the presence of positive feedback in both the Lux and Ain cascades. The primary goal of this project is to understand how the system gathers and integrates information from its environment. The specific aims are to (i) understand how the pivotal regulator LuxR and its variants integrate information from the two HSL signals, (ii) identify the activation states of the broader pheromone-signaling circuitry and explore how environmental inputs lead to specific outputs, and (iii) test the hypothesis that the architecture of this signaling system allows spatially-heterogeneous environments to trigger population-wide responses over extended distance and time scales. The project will use cytometry and gene reporter methods to characterize LuxR interactions and system states. It will also use microfluidics and microscopy to explore signaling dynamics in heterogeneous environments. The results are expected to yield new insights into how bacteria use environmental cues to control population-level behaviors.