Purification of the Vibrio Quorum-Sensing Transcription Factors LuxR, HapR, and SmcR.

Quorum sensing is a cell density-dependent form of cellular communication among bacteria. This signaling process has been heavily studied in vibrios due to their diverse and complex phenotypes and relevance to human and aquaculture disease. Mechanistic studies of Vibrio quorum sensing have required optimization of protein purification techniques to examine the role of key proteins, such as the LuxR/HapR family of transcription factors that control quorum-sensing gene expression. Protein purification is the cornerstone of biochemistry, and it is crucial to consistently produce batches of protein that are pure, active, and concentrated to perform various assays. The methods described here are optimized for purification of the Vibrio master quorum-sensing regulators, LuxR (Vibrio harveyi), HapR (Vibrio cholerae), and SmcR (Vibrio vulnificus). We anticipate that these methods can be applied to other proteins in this family of transcription factors.