Regulation of the Violacein Biosynthetic Gene Cluster by Acylhomoserine Lactone-Mediated Quorum Sensing in Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472

Chromobacterium violaceum produces the purple pigment violacein by quorum-sensing regulation. 20-bp of the lux box-like sequence was found upstream of vioA in C. violaceum ATCC 12472. CviR received C10-HSL and C6-HSL and activated the transcription of vioA in Escherichia coli. However, in strain ATCC 12472, C6-HSL inhibited both C10-HSL-mediated violacein production and the transcription of vioA.