Production of the quorum-sensing molecules N-acylhomoserine lactones by endobacteria associated with Mortierella alpina A-178.

Gram-negative bacteria communicate with one another using N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) as signaling molecules. This mechanism, known as quorum sensing (QS), is needed to develop pathogenicity, as well as symbiotic interactions with eukaryotic hosts, such as animals and plants. Increasing evidence indicates that certain bacteria, namely endobacteria, also inhabit fungal cells and establish symbiotic relationships with their hosts. However, it has not been clear whether bacterial QS acts in developing the relationships. Here we describe the isolation and identification of N-heptanoylhomoserine lactone and N-octanoylhomoserine lactone from the culture broth of the zygomycete fungus Mortierella alpina A-178. This suggested the presence of endobacteria in the fungus, as was confirmed by PCR, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and transmission electron microscopy. Two major bands obtained by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed sequence identity to genes in the β-proteobacterium Castellaniella defragrans (100 %) and the Gram-positive bacterium Cryobacterium sp. (99.8 %). The production of AHLs depended on the presence of endobacteria and was induced in response to the increase in the concentration of AHLs, suggesting that the bacterium conducts AHL-mediated QS in the fungus. This paper is the first to report the production of AHLs by endofungal bacteria and raises the possibility that QS plays roles in the development of fungus-endobacterium symbiosis.