N -Acyl- <scp>l</scp> -Homoserine Lactone Autoinducers Control Production of an Extracellular Lipopeptide Biosurfactant Required for Swarming Motility of <i>Serratia liquefaciens</i> MG1

Abstract

A nonswarming Serratia liquefaciens mutant deficient in serrawettin W2 production was constructed by transposon mutagenesis. Sequence homology indicated that insertion had occurred in gene swrA, which encodes a putative peptide synthetase. Expression of swrA is controlled by quorum sensing.