Heterogeneous Response to a Quorum-Sensing Signal in the Luminescence of Individual Vibrio fischeri
Figure 5
Histograms of luminescence levels and onset times at high autoinducer concentration.
(A) Distribution of luminescence levels detected for individual V.fischeri cells, at time t = 240 minutes after autoinducer (AI, 3OC6HSL) was introduced at concentrations indicated. Cells emitting ∼10–20 photons/minute are at the measurement uncertainty, i.e. are consistent with no emission. (B) Distribution of luminescence onset times t1/2 in the presence of 200 nM and 1000 nM AI. The onset time t1/2 is the time at which the luminescence output I(t) of a particular cell is halfway between its initial value I(t = 0) and its final value I(t≈250 minutes), when AI was introduced at t = 0.