Role of Neisseria meningitidis luxS in cell-to-cell signaling and bacteremic infection.
Winzer K., Sun Y-H., Green A., Delory M., Blackley D., Hardie KR., Baldwin TJ., Tang CM.
Numerous pathogenic bacteria contain luxS, which is required for autoinducer-2 production. Here, we demonstrate that Neisseria meningitidis contains a functional copy of luxS that is necessary for full meningococcal virulence; strains with a luxS deletion are defective for bacteremia, a prerequisite of meningococcal pathogenesis.