Abstract
Recipient strains of S. faecalis produce a trypsin sensitive, heat resistant, nuclease resistant factor, designated clumping-inducing agent (CIA) which causes strains carrying certain conjugative plasmids to aggregate. RNA and protein synthesis are required for aggregation to occur. Recipient filtrates that contain CIA activity also induce donors to mate at high frequencies. Introduction of a transferable plasmid into strains producing CIA dramatically reduces the amount of CIA activity produced by the strain but allows the strain to respond to exogenously added CIA. The data suggest that CIA represents a bacterial sex hormone (pheromone).
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 3479-3483 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 75 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1978 |