1H, 13C and 15N backbone assignments for the ligand binding domain of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence regulator LasR

LasR regulates toxin production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its inhibition can attenuate the virulence of this opportunistic human pathogen. To aid studies of interactions with inhibitors, we report the NMR backbone assignments for the dimeric LasR ligand-binding domain.     

Integrated Succinylome and Metabolome Profiling Reveals Crucial Role of S-Ribosylhomocysteine Lyase in Quorum Sensing and Metabolism of Aeromonas hydrophila,

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Highlights

• •A global lysine succinylome was investigated in A. hydrophila.
• •The lysine succinylation modifications play crucial role on various metabolic pathways.
• •Reversible succinylation on Lys23 and Lys30 regulates the activity of S-ribosylhomocysteine lyase LuxS.
• •Lysine succinylation modifications of LuxS affect quorum sensing and metabolism.

     

Recent progresses on synthesized LuxS inhibitors: A mini-review

Design and synthesis of LuxS enzyme inhibitors otherwise known as S-ribosylhomocysteine analogues, to target quorum sensing in bacteria, has been considerably developed within the last decade. This review presents which molecules have been synthesized to target LuxS enzyme in other words inhibitors of S-ribosylhomocysteinase. It reports their tested biological activity as LuxS inhibitors when available. A systematic overview has been conducted by searching PubMed, Medline, and The Cochrane Library and data extraction of all synthesized S-ribosylhomocysteine analogues has been collected. This mini-review shows limited data to date on this area and should continue to be studied.     

Rational design of ‘controller cells’ to manipulate protein and phenotype expression

Coordination between cell populations via prevailing metabolic cues has been noted as a promising approach to connect synthetic devices and drive phenotypic or product outcomes. However, there has been little progress in developing ‘controller cells’ to modulate metabolic cues and guide these systems. In this work, we developed ‘controller cells’ that manipulate the molecular connection between cells by modulating the bacterial signal molecule, autoinducer-2, that is secreted as a quorum sensing (QS) signal by many bacterial species. Specifically, we have engineered Escherichia coli to overexpress components responsible for autoinducer uptake (lsrACDB), phosphorylation (lsrK), and degradation (lsrFG), thereby attenuating cell–cell communication among populations. Further, we developed a simple mathematical model that recapitulates experimental data and characterizes the dynamic balance among the various uptake mechanisms. This study revealed two controller ‘knobs’ that serve to increase AI-2 uptake: overexpression of the AI-2 transporter, LsrACDB, which controls removal of extracellular AI-2, and overexpression of the AI-2 kinase, LsrK, which increases the net uptake rate by limiting secretion of AI-2 back into the extracellular environment. We find that the overexpression of lsrACDBFG results in an extraordinarily high AI-2 uptake rate that is capable of completely silencing QS-mediated gene expression among wild-type cells. We demonstrate utility by modulating naturally occurring processes of chemotaxis and biofilm formation. We envision that ‘controller cells’ that modulate bacterial behavior by manipulating molecular communication, will find use in a variety of applications, particularly those employing natural or synthetic bacterial consortia.     

Impact of the structure-activity relationship of AHL analogues on quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria

With the emergence of microbial resistance pathogens, recent research aims at studying new mechanisms of action of antibiotics. This review discusses the mechanisms and types of quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors in Gram negative bacteria. It illustrates all published data available in literature pertaining to novel compounds that showed activity against different targets in the quorum sensing pathways in Gram negative bacteria. A systemic overview has been conducted by searching PubMed, Medline, and the Cochrane Library and data extraction of all quorum sensing inhibitors with their mechanisms of action have been collected. This review will focus on signaling autoinducer AI-1 in Gram negative bacteria. The biological activity of the antagonists is mainly reported as IC₅₀ (the concentration of an inhibitor where the response is reduced by half).     

A modular autoinduction device for control of gene expression in Bacillus subtilis

Intense synthesis of proteins and chemicals in engineered microbes impose metabolic burden, frequently leading to reduced growth and heterogeneous cell population. Thus, the correct balance between growth and production is important. Such balance can be engineered through dynamic control of pathways, but few broadly applicable tools are available to achieve this. We present an autonomous control of gene expression mediated by quorum sensing in Bacillus subtilis, able to self-monitor and induce expression without human supervision. Two variations of the induction module and seven of the response module were engineered generating a range of induction folds and strengths for gene expression control. Our strongest response promoter is 2.5 and 3.2 times stronger than the well-characterized promoters P_srfA and P_veg, respectively. We applied our strongest autoinduction device for the production of the vitamin B₂. This study presents a toolbox of autoinduction modules for B. subtilis that is modular and tunable.     

Biofilm and Quorum sensing mediated pathogenicity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The emergence of multidrug resistance has become an alarming and lifethreatening phenomenon for humans. Various mechanisms are involved in the development of resistance in bacteria towards antimicrobial compounds and immune system. Bacterial biofilm is a complicated, selfdefensive, rigid structure of bacteria crowded together to develop a selfrecessive nature, which enhances the ability to cause infections much easier in the living host. P. aeruginosa biofilm formation is supported by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) such as exopolysaccharides, extracellular DNA (eDNA), proteins and biomolecules. Published evidences suggest that biofilm formation can also be the result of several other mechanisms such as cell signaling or communication. Bacterial biofilm is also regulated by strong intercellular communication known as Quorum Sensing (QS). It is a cellular communication mechanism involving autoinducers and regulators. In P. aeruginosa, Acyl Homoserine Lactone, the prime signaling molecule, controls approximately 300 genes responsible for various cellular functions, including its pathogenesis. The surrounding environment and metabolism have a specific effect on the biofilm and QS, thus, understanding the involvement of QS in the biofilm developing mechanism is still complicated and complex to understand. Therefore, this review will include basic knowledge of the biofilmforming mechanism and other regulatory factors involved in causing infections and diseases in the host organisms.     

Isolation and identification of quorum quenching bacteria from environmental samples

A large number of Gram-negative pathogens produce N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) as signal molecules for quorum sensing (QS). This cell-cell communication system allows them to coordinate gene expression and regulate virulence. Therefore, strategies to inhibit QS are promising for the control of infectious diseases. The aim of the present study was to develop a high-throughput method for the isolation and identification of AHL-degrading bacteria from environmental samples. Samples were cultured in a microtitre plate in a minimal medium containing 1 mM N-(3-oxo-dodecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone and 2 mM N-(3-oxo-hexanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone as the sole sources of carbon and nitrogen. Isolates growing on this minimal medium were subcultured and identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Subsequently, the AHL-degrading capacity of each isolate was evaluated in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa QSIS2 biosensor assay, as such or after treatment with heat or proteinase K. The 16 samples tested yielded a total of 59 isolates which are, either alone or as part of a consortium, able to use AHL signal molecules as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen. Follow-up experiments have shown that in each sample there is at least one isolate with quorum quenching (QQ) activity, and that for all samples combined, 41 isolates have QQ activity. Furthermore, heat treatment did not fully inhibit QQ activity in all isolates. In some isolates, QQ activity was lost after proteinase K treatment, while others remained able to quench QS. Therefore, it is likely that some isolates produce and secrete (a) heat-stable, low molecular weight inhibitory compound(s).     

Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Edwardsiella tarda rpoS</Emphasis>: effect on serum resistance,chondroitinase activity,biofilm formation,and autoinducer synthetases expression

In this study, rpoS gene was identified from Edwardsiella tarda EIB202 and its functional role was analyzed by using an in-frame deletion mutant ∆rpoS and the complemental strain rpoS ⁺. Compared with the wild type and rpoS ⁺, ∆rpoS was impaired in terms of the ability to survive under oxidative stress and nutrient starvation, as well as the resistance to 50% serum of Scophthalmus maximus in 3 h, demonstrating essential roles of RpoS in stress adaptation. The rpoS mutant also displayed markedly increased chondroitinase activity and biofilm formation. Real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that the expression level of quorum sensing autoinducer synthetase genes luxS and edwI was increased by 3.7- and 2.5-fold in the rpoS mutant strain. Those results suggested that rpoS might be involved in the negative or positive regulation of chondroitinase and biofilm formation, or quorum sensing networks in E. tarda, respectively. Although there were no obvious differences between the wild-type and the rpoS mutant in adherence of epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cell and in the lethality on fish model, rpoS deletion leads to the drastically reduced capacity for E. tarda to internalize in EPC cells, indicating that RpoS was, while not the main, the factor required for the virulence network of E. tarda.     

The Fe(III) and Ga(III) coordination chemistry of 3-(1-hydroxymethylidene) and 3-(1-hydroxydecylidene)-5-(2-hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine-2,4-dione: novel tetramic acid degradation products of homoserine lactone bacterial quorum sensing molecules

Bacteria use small diffusible molecules to exchange information in a process called quorum sensing (QS). An important class of quorum sensing molecules used by Gram-negative bacteria is the family of N-acylhomoserine lactones (HSL). It was recently discovered that a degradation product of the QS molecule 3-oxo-C₁₂-homoserine lactone, the tetramic acid 3-(1-hydroxydecylidene)-5-(2-hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine-2,4-dione, is a potent antibacterial agent, thus implying roles for QS outside of simply communication. Because these tetramic acids also appear to bind iron with appreciable affinity it was suggested that metal binding might contribute to their biological activity. Here, using a variety of spectroscopic tools, we describe the coordination chemistry of both the methylidene and decylidene tetramic acid derivatives with Fe(III) and Ga(III) and discuss the potential biological significance of such metal binding.