Modeling Quorum Sensing Dynamics and Interference on Escherichia coli. 2019

Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
Computer Science Department, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico.

Bacteria control the expression of specific genes by Quorum Sensing (QS). This works using small signaling molecules called Autoinducers (AIs), for example, the Autoinducer-2 (AI-2). In this work, we present a mathematical model that represents the AI-2 dynamics on Escherichia coli, which is linked to the cell growth and the lsr operon expression. The model is adjusted using experimental data. Our results suggest that the extracellular AI-2 activity level depends on the cell growth rate, and this activity depends on the cell exponential growth phase. The model was adapted to simulate the interference of QS mechanisms in a co-culture of two E. coli strains: a wild type strain and a knock out strain that detects AI-2 but does not produce it. Co-culture simulations unveiled two conditions to avoid the QS on the wild strain: when the knock out takes control of the growth medium and overcomes the wild strain, or when is pre-cultured to its mid-exponential phase and then added to the wild strain culture. Model simulations unveiled new insights about the interference of bacterial communication and offer new tools for QS control.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
April 2006, International journal of medical microbiology : IJMM,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
June 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
February 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
March 2021, The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
April 2004, Infection and immunity,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
February 2023, Nature microbiology,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
July 2023, FEMS microbiology reviews,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
July 2021, Briefings in bioinformatics,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
January 2021, IEEE/ACM transactions on computational biology and bioinformatics,
Carlos E Torres-Cerna, and J Alejandro Morales, and Esteban A Hernandez-Vargas
August 2003, International journal of food microbiology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!