autoinducer-2

Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) is a furanosyl borate diester or tetrahydroxy furan (species dependent) that—as the name suggests—is an autoinducer, a member of a family of signaling molecules used in quorum sensing. AI-2 is one of only a few known biomolecules incorporating boron. First identified in the marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi, AI-2 is produced and recognized by many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. AI-2 arises by the reaction of 4,5-dihydroxy-2,3-pentanedione, which is produced enzymatically, with boric acid and is recognized by the two-component sensor kinase LuxPQ in Vibrionaceae.

AI-2 is actively transported by the Lsr ABC-type transporter into the cell in Enterobacteriaceae and few other bacterial taxa such as Pasteurella, Photorhabdus, Haemophilus, and Bacillus, where it is phosphorylated by LsrK. Then, Phospho-AI-2 binds the transcriptional repressor protein, LsrR, which subsequently is released from the promoter/operator region of the lsr operon – and transcription of the lsr genes is initiated. AI-2 signalling is also regulated by glucose and cAMP/CRP via the lsr operon. In the presence of glucose, low levels of cAMP/CRP result in almost no lsr operon (lsrABCDFG) expression. Without glucose, cAMP-CRP is needed to stimulate the lsr expression, while LsrR represses its expression in the absence of the inducer, phospho-AI-2. As AI-2 accumulates, more AI-2 is taken in via LsrABCD, phosphorylated via LsrK, and the lsr transcription is de-repressed, enabling even more AI-2 uptake.