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Bacterial quorum sensing and interference by naturally occurring biomimics.
Diane McDougald1, Scott A Rice, Staffan Kjelleberg
1The Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-Innovation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
|October 5, 2006
Summary
Bacteria use quorum sensing (QS) to coordinate behaviors. Eukaryotes can interfere with bacterial QS, and biomimetics offers potential solutions for human problems by mimicking these systems.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Biomimetics
Background:
- Bacteria coordinate gene expression via signaling molecules for community behaviors.
- Quorum sensing (QS) regulates phenotypes like virulence and biofilm formation.
- QS is crucial for bacterial adaptation and survival.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore bacterial quorum sensing (QS) systems.
- To examine eukaryotic interference with bacterial QS.
- To discuss the design of synthetic QS antagonists.
Main Methods:
- Review of acylated homoserine lactone (AHL) and autoinducer 2 (AI-2) QS systems.
- Analysis of eukaryotic strategies to intercept bacterial QS.
- Principles of rational design for synthetic QS antagonists.
Main Results:
- Bacterial QS systems (AHL, AI-2) enable coordinated community behavior.
- Eukaryotes detect and respond to bacterial QS molecules.
- Eukaryotes produce compounds that act as QS agonists or antagonists.
Conclusions:
- Bacterial QS is a key adaptation mechanism.
- Cross-kingdom signaling via QS is significant.
- Biomimetics offers novel strategies for interfering with bacterial QS.
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