CSF, a species-specific extracellular signaling peptide for communication among strains of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus mojavensis

ComX and CSF are Bacillus subtilis extracellular signaling peptides. Many different strains of B. subtilis do not communicate due to strain-specific variation of ComX. We demonstrate that CSF is a species-specific signaling molecule that partially compensates for the lack of ComX-mediated communication between different strains of B. subtilis.