“…One of the genes regulated by ComE, comX, encodes a sigma factor, which activates the genes required for DNA repair, DNA uptake, and transformation. CSP can be retained by producing cells (Prudhomme et al, 2016), but CSP also diffuses and can induce competence in neighboring cells (Christie et al, 2016;Håvarstein et al, 1995;Moreno-Gámez et al, 2017). Other environmental factors such as pH, oxygen, phosphate and diffusibility of the growth medium also influence competence development (Chen and Morrison, 1987;Claverys et al, 2002;Echenique et al, 2000;Yang et al, 2010).…”