Abstract:

Microbes employ complicated signal transduction systems to respond to environmental stimuli. Due to complex multi-species interactions, microbial community in natural biofilms enhances the intricate conditions. However, signal transduction in marine biofilms has hardly been comprehensively explored. Here we analyzed 101 marine biofilms and 91 seawater metagenomes worldwide to depict an overarching picture of signal transduction genes in the marine environment. The abundance of almost all signaling transduction genes, especially quorum sensing genes, in biofilm samples was significantly higher than that in seawater, although biofilms were developed on different kinds of substrates, at different locations, and over different sampling times. Remarkably, when marine biofilms were treated with signal molecules, different molecules showed distinguishing effects on the bacterial composition and function in the microbial assemblage of these surface-associated communities, as demonstrated with metagenomics data. Transcriptomics analyses of a marine biofilm-derived strain further supported the influence of Pseudomonas quinolone signal on biofilm development in gene expressions, likely through interspecies interactions. These results, for the first time, provided a comprehensive understanding of the significance of signal transduction especially quorum sensing among the natural marine environment, and have shed new light on the roles and huge potential of small signal molecules with low concentration in the intricate natural ecosystem.

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