Acidic pH promotes lipopolysaccharide modification and alters colonization in a bacteria–animal mutualism

Summary Environmental pH can be an important cue for symbiotic bacteria as they colonize their eukaryotic hosts. Using the model mutualism between the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the Hawaiian bobtail squid, we characterized the bacterial transcriptional response to acidic pH experienced during the shift from planktonic to host‐associated lifestyles. We found several genes involved in outer membrane structure were differentially...