Inactivation of the transcriptional regulator-encoding gene sdiA enhances rice root colonization and biofilm formation in Enterobacter cloacae GS1.

Enterobacter cloacae GS1 is a plant growth-promoting bacterium which colonizes rice roots. In the rhizosphere environment, N-acyl homoserine lactone (NAHL)-like quorum-sensing signals are known to be produced by host plants and other microbial inhabitants. E. cloacae GS1 was unable to synthesize NAHL quorum-sensing signals but had the NAHL-dependent transcriptional regulator-encoding gene sdiA. This study was aimed at understanding the effects of SdiA and NAHL-dependent cross talk in rice root colonization by E. cloacae GS1. Pleiotropic effects of sdiA inactivation included substantial increases in root colonization and biofilm formation, suggesting a negative role for SdiA in bacterial adhesion. We provide evidence that sdiA inactivation leads to elevated levels of biosynthesis of curli, which is involved in cellular adhesion. Extraneous addition of NAHLs had a negative effect on root colonization and biofilm formation. However, the sdiA mutant of E. cloacae GS1 was insensitive to NAHLs, suggesting that this NAHL-induced inhibition of root colonization and biofilm formation is SdiA dependent. Therefore, it is proposed that NAHLs produced by both plant and microbes in the rice rhizosphere act as cross-kingdom and interspecies signals to negatively impact cellular adhesion and, thereby, root colonization in E. cloacae GS1.