Structural and functional insights into a quorum-sensing signal peptide receptor, the ComD histidine protein kinase of streptococcus mutans

Abstract

Quorum sensing activation by signal peptide pheromones (SP) in Gram-positive bacteria depends on a membrane-associated histidine kinase receptor, which senses the signal and triggers the signaling cascade for various cell density-dependent activities. However, relatively little is known of peptide pheromone-receptor interactions in these bacteria, largely because of technical challenges in working with membrane-associated proteins in these bacteria. Recently, we have described a genetic approach and several analysis methods to studying membrane topology and structure-function interaction of a quorum sensing pheromone receptor ComD in a Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus mutans. Using these methods, we confirm that the membrane-spanning domain of the ComD protein forms six transmembrane segments and three extracellular loops, loopA, loopB and loopC. By mutational analyses of these three extracellular loops, we demonstrate that both loopC and loopB are required for signal recognition and quorum sensing activation, while loopA plays little role in signal detection. In particular, a deletion or substitution mutation of four residues NVIP within loopC abolishes signal recognition for quorum sensing activation. Consistent with these findings, the loopC and loopB mutants are completely or partially defective in bacteriocin production. We conclude that both loopC and loopB are required to form the signal peptide receptor and the residues NVIP of loopC are essential for signal recognition and quorum sensing activation in S. mutans.