| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Aeromonas </it>spp. have been regarded as "emerging pathogens". Aeromonads possess multifactorial virulence and the production of many of these virulence determinants is associated with high cell density, a phenomenon that might be regulated by quorum sensing. However, only two species of the genus are reported to possess the <it>luxRI </it>quorum sensing gene homologs. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the <it>luxRI </it>homologs are universally present in the <it>Aeromonas </it>strains collected from various culture collections, clinical laboratories and field studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of all the 73 <it>Aeromonas </it>strains used in the study, seventy-one strains elicited acyl-homoserine lactone-mediated response in multiple biosensor strains. However, dot blot hybridization revealed that the <it>luxRI </it>homologs are present in all the strains. PCR amplification and sequencing revealed that the <it>luxRI </it>homologs shared a very high percentage sequence similarity. No evidence for lateral gene transfer of the <it>luxRI </it>homologs between aeromonads and other genera was noted.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We propose that the <it>luxRI </it>quorum sensing gene homologs are universally present in the genus <it>Aeromonas </it>independently from their origin. This study is the first genus-wide report of the taxonomic distribution of the <it>luxRI </it>homologs.</p>
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