Should they stay or should they go? Nitric oxide and the clash of regulators governing Vibrio fischeri biofilm formation

What is it about?

In a model for beneficial bacterial infection of animal tissue, the bioluminescent light-organ symbiont Vibrio fischeri must carefully regulate biofilm formation, to first stick together in an aggregate on the surface of the host and then disperse and swim to deeper tissues. Thompson et al. have now shown how a known host-derived molecule, nitric oxide, modulates this regulatory decision.

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