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Many bacteria produce signal molecules that serve in a cell-to-cell communication system termed quorum sensing. This signalling system allows a bacterial population to co-ordinately regulate functions according to their cell number in a defined environment. As bacterial growth progresses towards the stationary phase, signalling molecules accumulate in the growth medium and, above a certain threshold level, regulate the expression of genes involved in diverse functions. Most of the functions monitored by quorum sensing are most beneficial when they are performed as a population than by single cells, such as virulence factor production, biofilm formation, conjugation and bioluminescence.

Vibrio anguillarum is a bacterial pathogen that causes terminal hemorrhagic septicaemia in marine fish. V. anguillarum possesses multiple quorum sensing circuits similar to the LuxI/LuxR and the V. harveyi-type systems. In this study, a characterisation of the quorum sensing-regulated transcriptional activator VanT was made. VanT belongs to the V. harveyi LuxR family of transcriptional regulators, which play a central role in quorum sensing signalling in Vibrio species. VanT was shown to regulate serine, metalloprotease, pigment, exopolysaccharide (EPS) and biofilm production. VanT repressed an EPS locus that plays a critical role in bacterial colonization of the fish integument and virulence.

The V. harveyi-like quorum sensing systems were shown to limit rather than induce vanT expression throughout growth in V. anguillarum. In contrast to homologous proteins in other Vibrio spp., the quorum sensing phosphorelay protein VanU and the response regulator VanO had antagonistic roles in the regulation of vanT expression. Unlike other members of the luxR family, vanT was expressed at low cell density and no significant induction due to quorum sensing regulation was seen.

Interestingly, VanT expression was induced by the alternative sigma factor RpoS as the cells entered stationary phase. RpoS was shown to regulate VanT expression post-transcriptionally by promoting vanT mRNA stability. VanT and RpoS were important for bacterial survival under stress conditions, indicating that VanT is likely an essential factor of V. anguillarum stress response.