Gene regulation of rhamnolipid production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa – A review

Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces abundant levels of rhamnolipid biosurfactants which exhibit remarkable chemical and physical characteristics, making these compounds attractive targets for biotechnology research. The complex gene regulation network involved in rhamnolipids’ biosynthesis represents a challenge to industrial production, which has been the object of a growing number of studies. This article provides a comprehensive review of the known gene regulatory factors involved in rhamnolipid production within P. aeruginosa. The regulatory factors include quorum sensing systems proteins and environmental response, and global regulatory systems within basal bacterial physiology, acting either at transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. The multilayer gene regulation responds to a wide variety of environmental and physiologic signals, and is capable of combining different signals in unique and specific responses.