A widespread methylotroph acyl-homoserine lactone synthase produces a new quorum sensing signal that regulates swarming in Methylobacterium fujisawaense.

ABSTRACT

IMPORTANCE Bacteria known as pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs colonize many diverse environments on earth, play an important role in the carbon cycle, and in some cases promote plant growth. However, little is known about how these organisms interact with each other and their environment. In this work, we identify one of the chemical signals commonly used by these bacteria and discover that this signal controls swarming motility in the pink-pigmented facultative methylotroph Methylobacterium fujisawaense DSM5686. This work provides new molecular details about interactions between these important bacteria and will help scientists predict these interactions and the group behaviors they regulate from genomic sequencing information.