The pioneering work of Kaplan and Greenberg [1] led to admit that, as eukaryotic cells, bacteria can communicate. In fact, many multicellular social bacterial behaviours such as swarming type motility, [2] biofilm formation [3] and virulence expression, [4] require population synchronization and that is performed at least partly through a highly regulated cell-to-cell communication system called quorum sensing (QS). QS is based on the bacterial population density, which is performed through secretion and sensing of specific signal molecules named autoinducers. Nowadays, many QS autoinducers, such as the N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHL) and quinolones (Gram-negative
Lactobacilli and estrogens play essential roles in vaginal homeostasis. We investigated the potential direct effect of 17β-estradiol on a vaginal strain of Lactobacillus crispatus, the major bacterial species of the vaginal microbiota. 17β-estradiol (10–6 to 10–10 M) had no effect on L. crispatus growth, but markedly affected the membrane dynamics of this bacterium. This effect appeared consistent with a signal transduction process. The surface polarity and aggregation potential of the bacterium were unaffected by exposure to 17β-estradiol, but its mean size was significantly reduced. 17β-estradiol also promoted biosurfactant production by L. crispatus and adhesion to vaginal VK2/E6E7 cells, but had little effect on bacterial biofilm formation activity. Bioinformatic analysis of L. crispatus identified a membrane lipid raft–associated stomatin/prohibitin/flotillin/HflK domain containing protein as a potential 17β-estradiol binding site. Overall, our results reveal direct effects of 17β-estradiol on L. crispatus. These effects are of potential importance in the physiology of the vaginal environment, through the promotion of lactobacillus adhesion to the mucosa and protection against pathogens.
We report the draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus crispatus CIP 104459, isolated from a human vaginal swab. This draft genome consists of 1,993,673 bp, with 36.8% G+C content and 2,024 predicted protein-encoding sequences.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.