Negative regulation of violacein biosynthesis in Chromobacterium violaceum

In Chromobacteium violaceum, the purple pigment violacein is under positive regulation by the N-acylhomoserine lactone CviI/R quorum sensing system and negative regulation by an uncharacterized putative repressor. In this study we report that the biosynthesis of violacein is negatively controlled by...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Devescovi, Giulia, Kojic, Milan, Covaceuszach, Sonia, Cámara, Miguel, Williams, Paul, Bertani, Iris, Subramoni, Sujatha, Venturi, Vittorio
Format: Article
Published: Frontiers 2017
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40663/
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Summary:In Chromobacteium violaceum, the purple pigment violacein is under positive regulation by the N-acylhomoserine lactone CviI/R quorum sensing system and negative regulation by an uncharacterized putative repressor. In this study we report that the biosynthesis of violacein is negatively controlled by a novel repressor protein, VioS. The violacein operon is regulated negatively by VioS and positively by the CviI/R system in both C. violaceum and in a heterologous Escherichia coli genetic background. VioS does not regulate the CviI/R system and apart from violacein, VioS and quorum sensing regulate other phenotypes antagonistically. Quorum sensing regulated phenotypes in C. violaceum are therefore further regulated providing an additional level of control.