N-Acyl homoserine lactone

Last updated
General chemical structure of an N-acyl homoserine lactone N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone.svg
General chemical structure of an N-acyl homoserine lactone

N-Acyl homoserine lactones (Abbreviated as AHLs or N-AHLs) are a class of signaling molecules involved in bacterial quorum sensing, a means of communication between bacteria enabling behaviors based on population density.

Contents

The first AHL (N-3-(oxo-hexanoyl)-homoserine lactone) was found as the natural inducer of bioluminescence in the bacterium Vibrio fischeri. [1] Quorum sensing by the means of AHLs contributes to regulate the transcription of specific genes and therefore expression of specific phenotypes, including growth, virulence, biofilm formation, bioluminescence, production of exopolysaccharide (EPS). [2] Over 50 gram-negative bacteria species (including several pathogenic species) use AHLs as autoinducers and the means of their communication in quorum sensing. In one study, AHL was shown to interact with eukaryotic cells, and mitigate an immune response and facilitates infection. [3] AHLs are one of the major groups of the autoinducer (AI) molecules which are found primarily in gram-negative proteobacteria but also in some bacteriodetes, cyanobacteria, and archaea. [4] The other two major groups are oligopeptides AIs in gram-positive bacteria; and autoinducer-2 (AI-2), as a universal signal for interspecies communications. [5]

Formation

It arises by the reaction of acyl carrier proteins react with S-adenosylmethionine. The latter donates the equivalent of 4-aminobutyrolactone. Methylthioadenosine is a coproduct. [6]

Homoserine lactone is also a product of the proteolytic reaction of cyanogen bromide (CNBr) with a methionine residue. This reaction is important for chemical sequencing of proteins.

Structure

AHLs have hydrophobic and hydrophilic sections. The hydrophilic section consists of the homoserine lactone ring and the amide group. The hydrophobic section has a strain-specific hydrocarbon chain with varieties in length and level of oxygenation with a 3-oxo group. The length of the acyl chain generally ranges from 4 to 18 carbons. The length of R-group side-chain variable. Chain lengths vary from 4 to 18 carbon atoms and in the substitution of a carbonyl at the third carbon. [7] The hydrophilic sections form a hydrogen bonded network within the receptor binding site, while the hydrophobic sites contribute to diffusional and binding properties within the hydrophobic pocket. [8] Studies have not yet demonstrated a correlation between the AHL synthase enzymes and AHL type. LuxI protein synthesizes an acylated homoserin-lactone molecule. The LuxI gene is highly conserved, which indicates that although diverse, there are a limited number of AHL-type signals that are produced by bacteria. However, in the AHL synthase enzyme family, the C-terminal region, which determines the type of substrates the synthetase can recognize and the subsequent acyl-chain length, is not conserved. Moreover, there is no evidence as of now that the distribution of AHL synthase and the species are correlated. [9] Contrary to LuxI genes, the receptors of AHLs, LuxR protein and their genes, are highly variable among species.

Signalling

Mechanism

Bacterial quorum signalling begins with the N-AHLs secreted into the environment.

In the process of quorum sensing, first the LuxI protein synthesizes an acylated homoserin-lactone molecule which can pass through cell membrane along the gradient through diffusion to the environmental space. When the concentration of these autoinducers in the environment is lower than inside the cell, they will move down the gradient and will leave the cell, therefore, they will not attach to their receptor, LuxR, which is in the cytoplasm. When the population of bacteria reaches a threshold, and the concentration of the autoinducers in the environment is higher than inside the cell, they will move along the gradient into the cell and will attach to the receptor. Thus, the LuxR-AHL complex will be formed. [10] This complex will bind to a 20 base pair (bp) section of DNA, called the lux box. This region is in or near the lux promoter region, which is located ~40 bp upstream of the regulated gene. Because LuxR is bound to the promoter, RNA polymerase is recruited to this promoter region and the gene expression is induced. [11] Moreover, the LuxR-AHL complex will upregulate the transcription of LuxI protein which will increase the production of AHLs (positive feedback loop). The transcription of the target genes will be regulated, and as gene expression of an entire population will be coordinated. [12] Several studies have been investigating on the potential AHLs effective in infection and resistance to antibiotics. The LuxR–LuxI system mediated by AHLs is the best screened QS system in multi-drug resistant bacteria species. [13]

Quorum Quenching

As opposed to quorum sensing, quorum quenching, prevents bacterial communication and influences their gene expression. Targets of the quorum quenching are the signal molecules, the biosynthetic machinery of signal molecules, and the regulatory proteins that perceive these signal molecules with the AHL degradation via AHL degrading enzymes and limiting signal accumulation being the main mechanism. The AHLs are degraded by enzymes through three mechanisms: lactone hydrolysis, amide bond hydrolysis, and acyl chain modification. Lactone hydrolysis occurs when AHL Lactonase hydrolyzes homoserine lactone rings. This process was first observed in Bacillus species. AHL acylases catalyze the complete and irreversible destruction of AHLs through the hydrolysis of amide bonds. AHL oxidase and reductase, first discovered in Rhodococcus erythropolis, catalyze a change in the chemical structure of signals, which affects AHL signal recognition and interferes with quorum sensing regulated processes. The second AHLase is a Bacillus megaterium P450 monooxygenase that oxidizes fatty acids and N-fatty acyl amino acids. Lactonases and acylases are the two pioneers of quorum quenching mechanisms. Lactonases break down the lactone bonds in autoinducers, making them unable to bind to target transcriptional regulators and thereby increasing disease resistance. [14]

Impacts of AHLs on Plants

Plants have a critical role in shaping our world and their relationship with microorganisms is of significant importance. Over the long history of coevolution of plants and microbes, plants have evolved to respond to the symbiotic or pathogenic microbes in appropriate ways with an adapted gene expression profile such as cooperation with bacterial saprotrophs leading to an endophytic life or defense responses against pathogens. AHLs play an important role in the symbiosis of rhizobium and legumes which will result in the formation of nodules. [15] Experiments have reported that application of AHLs activates the auxin-responsible GH3 promoter (upregulate auxin-related genes), and down-regulates the genes related to cytokinin (the change in the ratio between auxin and cytokinin can promote growth). [16] Also, followed by applying AHL, the nodulation in roots has been enhanced. [17] Moreover, the water and mineral flow through the plant was higher as stomata opening increased, and therefore the overall transpiration rate changed. [18] Aside from AHL-mediated bacteria-plant beneficial interactions, QS-signaling AHL compounds were shown to function as important communication signal in tripartite symbiotic bacteria-fungus-plant interactions. The endophytic bacterium with AHL-autoinduction and produces a variety of long side-chain AHLs seems to assist the fungus to interact in a symbiotic manner with the colonized host plants. The fungus Serendipita indica, which was isolated from the rhizosphere of plants, is associated with stress tolerance and plant growth promotion. It was shown that this fungus harbors an endofungal bacterium, Rhizobium radiobacter F4, which genes of AHL-autoinduction. When R. radiobacter F4 was inoculated to Arabidopsis or wheat (Triticum aestivum), it conferred similar stimulation of growth and yield, as well as priming of the defense responses and increasing environmental fitness. Interestingly, when the AHL-compounds were depleted, root colonization, growth promotion and resistance-inducing activities diminished. These findings suggest that whenever the fungus S. indica is applied to support growth vigor of diverse plants, the endofungal AHL-producing R. radiobacter are colonizing the host plant and participate to steer the coordination of microbe-plant interaction. [19]

AHLs and Nitrogen Cycle

Microbes are a key player in charge of the fate of nitrogen in soil and water. AHL-mediated quorum sensing has an important role in Nitrogen cycle. All nitrifying bacteria and some denitrifying bacteria use AHL as their signal molecules. [20] AHLs influence the efficiency of and regulate the functions involved in nitrification and denitrification. Some bacterial species of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, like Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrosospira multiformis, Nitrosospira briensis, use C6- to C14- AHLs. Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), such as Nitrobacter winogradskyi, Nitrobacter vulgaris, and Nitrospira moscoviensis, also use C8- or C10- AHLs. Candidatus Jettenia caeni with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (annamox) mode uses C6- and C8- AHLs. Moreover, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Paracoccus denitrificans as denitrifying bacteria also use C4-HSL and C16-AHL, respectively. In some of the nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria like Nitrobacter hamburgensis AHLs were not found although putative AHL synthetase and receptor proteins were. [9]

See also

Further reading

Notes

  1. ↑ Yi, Li; Dong, Xiao; Grenier, Daniel; Wang, Kaicheng; Wang, Yang (April 2021). "Research progress of bacterial quorum sensing receptors: Classification, structure, function and characteristics". Science of the Total Environment. 763: 143031. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143031. ISSN   0048-9697. PMID   33129525. S2CID   226233459.
  2. ↑ Papenfort, Kai; Bassler, Bonnie L. (September 2016). "Quorum sensing signal–response systems in gram-negative bacteria". Nature Reviews Microbiology. 14 (9): 576–588. doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.89. ISSN   1740-1534. PMC   5056591 . PMID   27510864.
  3. ↑ Jiang, Hui; Jiang, Donglei; Shao, Jingdong; Sun, Xiulan (January 2016). "Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles based electrochemical sensor for the measurement of gram-negative bacterial quorum signaling molecules (N-acyl-homoserine-lactones)". Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 75: 411–419. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2015.07.045. ISSN   0956-5663. PMID   26344904.
  4. ↑ Zhang, Guishan; Zhang, Fan; Ding, Gang; Li, Jie; Guo, Xiaopeng; Zhu, Jinxing; Zhou, Liguang; Cai, Shichun; Liu, Xiaoli; Luo, Yuanming; Zhang, Guifeng; Shi, Wenyuan; Dong, Xiuzhu (2012-01-12). "Acyl homoserine lactone-based quorum sensing in a methanogenic archaeon". The ISME Journal. 6 (7): 1336–1344. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2011.203 . ISSN   1751-7362. PMC   3379639 . PMID   22237544. S2CID   28314590.
  5. ↑ Hense, Burkhard A.; Schuster, Martin (March 2015). "Core Principles of Bacterial Autoinducer Systems". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 79 (1): 153–169. doi:10.1128/mmbr.00024-14. ISSN   1092-2172. PMC   4402962 . PMID   25694124.
  6. ↑ Parveen, Nikhat; Cornell, Kenneth A. (2011). "Methylthioadenosine/S-adenosylhomocysteine nucleosidase, a critical enzyme for bacterial metabolism". Molecular Microbiology. 79 (1): 7–20. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07455.x. PMC   3057356 . PMID   21166890.
  7. ↑ Kumari, A.; Pasini, P.; Deo, S. K.; Flomenhoft, D.; Shashidhar, S.; Daunert, S. (2006). "Biosensing Systems for the Detection of Bacterial Quorum Signaling Molecules". Analytical Chemistry. 78 (22): 7603–7609. doi:10.1021/ac061421n. PMID   17105149.
  8. ↑ Zhang, Qiang; Li, Sizhe; Hachicha, Maha; Boukraa, Mohamed; Soulère, Laurent; Efrit, Mohamed L.; Queneau, Yves (2021-08-24). "Heterocyclic Chemistry Applied to the Design of N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone Analogues as Bacterial Quorum Sensing Signals Mimics". Molecules. 26 (17): 5135. doi: 10.3390/molecules26175135 . ISSN   1420-3049. PMC   8433848 . PMID   34500565.
  9. 1 2 Wang, Na; Gao, Jie; Liu, Ying; Wang, Qiuying; Zhuang, Xuliang; Zhuang, Guoqiang (2021-07-01). "Realizing the role of N-acyl-homoserine lactone-mediated quorum sensing in nitrification and denitrification: A review". Chemosphere. 274: 129970. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129970. ISSN   0045-6535. PMID   33979914. S2CID   233550593.
  10. ↑ Mashburn, Lauren M.; Whiteley, Marvin (September 2005). "Membrane vesicles traffic signals and facilitate group activities in a prokaryote". Nature. 437 (7057): 422–425. doi:10.1038/nature03925. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   16163359. S2CID   4427170.
  11. ↑ Prescott, Rebecca D.; Decho, Alan W. (2020-06-01). "Flexibility and Adaptability of Quorum Sensing in Nature". Trends in Microbiology. 28 (6): 436–444. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2019.12.004. ISSN   0966-842X. PMC   7526683 . PMID   32001099.
  12. ↑ Li, Yung-Hua; Tian, Xiaolin (2012-02-23). "Quorum Sensing and Bacterial Social Interactions in Biofilms". Sensors. 12 (3): 2519–2538. doi: 10.3390/s120302519 . ISSN   1424-8220. PMC   3376616 . PMID   22736963.
  13. ↑ Acet, Ömür; Erdönmez, Demet; Acet, Burcu Önal; Odabaşı, Mehmet (2021-09-01). "N-acyl homoserine lactone molecules assisted quorum sensing: effects consequences and monitoring of bacteria talking in real life". Archives of Microbiology. 203 (7): 3739–3749. doi:10.1007/s00203-021-02381-9. ISSN   1432-072X. PMID   34002253. S2CID   234769940.
  14. ↑ Kamath, Anushree; Shukla, Arpit; Patel, Dhara (January 2023). "Quorum Sensing and Quorum Quenching: Two sides of the same coin". Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology. 123: 101927. doi:10.1016/j.pmpp.2022.101927. ISSN   0885-5765. S2CID   253727152.
  15. ↑ Calatrava-Morales, Nieves; McIntosh, Matthew; Soto, María (2018-05-18). "Regulation Mediated by N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone Quorum Sensing Signals in the Rhizobium-Legume Symbiosis". Genes. 9 (5): 263. doi: 10.3390/genes9050263 . ISSN   2073-4425. PMC   5977203 . PMID   29783703.
  16. ↑ von Rad, Uta; Klein, Ilona; Dobrev, Petre I.; Kottova, Jana; Zazimalova, Eva; Fekete, Agnes; Hartmann, Anton; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe; Durner, Jörg (2008-09-03). "Response of Arabidopsis thaliana to N-hexanoyl-dl-homoserine-lactone, a bacterial quorum sensing molecule produced in the rhizosphere". Planta. 229 (1): 73–85. doi:10.1007/s00425-008-0811-4. ISSN   0032-0935. PMID   18766372. S2CID   18744248.
  17. ↑ Veliz-Vallejos, Debora F.; van Noorden, Giel E.; Yuan, Mengqi; Mathesius, Ulrike (2014-10-14). "A Sinorhizobium meliloti-specific N-acyl homoserine lactone quorum-sensing signal increases nodule numbers in Medicago truncatula independent of autoregulation". Frontiers in Plant Science. 5: 551. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00551 . ISSN   1664-462X. PMC   4196514 . PMID   25352858.
  18. ↑ Palmer, Andrew G.; Senechal, Amanda C.; Mukherjee, Arijit; Ané, Jean-Michel; Blackwell, Helen E. (2014-06-18). "Plant Responses to Bacterial N-Acyl <scp>l</scp>-Homoserine Lactones are Dependent on Enzymatic Degradation to <scp>l</scp>-Homoserine". ACS Chemical Biology. 9 (8): 1834–1845. doi: 10.1021/cb500191a . ISSN   1554-8929. PMC   4136694 . PMID   24918118. S2CID   28540584.
  19. ↑ Alabid, Ibrahim; Hardt, Martin; Imani, Jafargholi; Hartmann, Anton; Rothballer, Michael; Li, Dan; Uhl, Jenny; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe; Glaeser, Stefanie; Kogel, Karl-Heinz (2020-08-02). "The N-acyl homoserine-lactone depleted Rhizobium radiobacter mutant RrF4NM13 shows reduced growth-promoting and resistance-inducing activities in mono- and dicotyledonous plants". Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection. 127 (6): 769–781. doi: 10.1007/s41348-020-00360-8 . ISSN   1861-3829. S2CID   225518441.
  20. ↑ Maddela, Naga Raju; Sheng, Binbin; Yuan, Shasha; Zhou, Zhongbo; Villamar-Torres, Ronald; Meng, Fangang (April 2019). "Roles of quorum sensing in biological wastewater treatment: A critical review". Chemosphere. 221: 616–629. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.01.064. PMID   30665091. S2CID   58629053.

Related Research Articles

<i>Arabidopsis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Arabidopsis (rockcress) is a genus in the family Brassicaceae. They are small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard. This genus is of great interest since it contains thale cress, one of the model organisms used for studying plant biology and the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced. Changes in thale cress are easily observed, making it a very useful model.

In biology, quorum sensing or quorum signaling (QS) is the ability to detect and respond to cell population density by gene regulation. Quorum sensing is a type of cellular signaling, and more specifically can be considered a type of paracrine signaling. However, it also contains traits of both autocrine signaling: a cell produces both the autoinducer molecule and the receptor for the autoinducer. As one example, QS enables bacteria to restrict the expression of specific genes to the high cell densities at which the resulting phenotypes will be most beneficial, especially for phenotypes that would be ineffective at low cell densities and therefore too energetically costly to express. Many species of bacteria use quorum sensing to coordinate gene expression according to the density of their local population. In a similar fashion, some social insects use quorum sensing to determine where to nest. Quorum sensing in pathogenic bacteria activates host immune signaling and prolongs host survival, by limiting the bacterial intake of nutrients, such as tryptophan, which further is converted to serotonin. As such, quorum sensing allows a commensal interaction between host and pathogenic bacteria. Quorum sensing may also be useful for cancer cell communications.

<i>Agrobacterium tumefaciens</i> Bacterium, genetic engineering tool

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the causal agent of crown gall disease in over 140 species of eudicots. It is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative soil bacterium. Symptoms are caused by the insertion of a small segment of DNA, from a plasmid into the plant cell, which is incorporated at a semi-random location into the plant genome. Plant genomes can be engineered by use of Agrobacterium for the delivery of sequences hosted in T-DNA binary vectors.

<i>Aliivibrio fischeri</i> Species of bacterium

Aliivibrio fischeri is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium found globally in marine environments. This species has bioluminescent properties, and is found predominantly in symbiosis with various marine animals, such as the Hawaiian bobtail squid. It is heterotrophic, oxidase-positive, and motile by means of a single polar flagella. Free-living A. fischeri cells survive on decaying organic matter. The bacterium is a key research organism for examination of microbial bioluminescence, quorum sensing, and bacterial-animal symbiosis. It is named after Bernhard Fischer, a German microbiologist.

<i>Vibrio harveyi</i> Species of bacterium

Vibrio harveyi is a Gram-negative, bioluminescent, marine bacterium in the genus Vibrio. V. harveyi is rod-shaped, motile, facultatively anaerobic, halophilic, and competent for both fermentative and respiratory metabolism. It does not grow below 4 °C. V. harveyi can be found free-swimming in tropical marine waters, commensally in the gut microflora of marine animals, and as both a primary and opportunistic pathogen of marine animals, including Gorgonian corals, oysters, prawns, lobsters, the common snook, barramundi, turbot, milkfish, and seahorses. It is responsible for luminous vibriosis, a disease that affects commercially farmed penaeid prawns. Additionally, based on samples taken by ocean-going ships, V. harveyi is thought to be the cause of the milky seas effect, in which, during the night, a uniform blue glow is emitted from the seawater. Some glows can cover nearly 6,000 sq mi (16,000 km2).

<i>Burkholderia cenocepacia</i> Species of bacterium

Burkholderia cenocepacia is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in soil and water environments and may also be associated with plants and animals, particularly as a human pathogen. It is one of over 20 species in the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) and is notable due to its virulence factors and inherent antibiotic resistance that render it a prominent opportunistic pathogen responsible for life-threatening, nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients, such as those with cystic fibrosis or chronic granulomatous disease. The quorum sensing systems CepIR and CciIR regulate the formation of biofilms and the expression of virulence factors such as siderophores and proteases. Burkholderia cenocepacia may also cause disease in plants, such as in onions and bananas. Additionally, some strains serve as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.

<i>Pseudomonas savastanoi</i> Species of bacterium

Pseudomonas savastanoi is a gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was instated as a new species. It is named after Savastano, a worker who proved between 1887 and 1898 that olive knot are caused by bacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S-ribosylhomocysteine lyase</span>

The enzyme S-ribosylhomocysteine lyase catalyzes the reaction

Autoinducers are signaling molecules that are produced in response to changes in cell-population density. As the density of quorum sensing bacterial cells increases so does the concentration of the autoinducer. Detection of signal molecules by bacteria acts as stimulation which leads to altered gene expression once the minimal threshold is reached. Quorum sensing is a phenomenon that allows both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria to sense one another and to regulate a wide variety of physiological activities. Such activities include symbiosis, virulence, motility, antibiotic production, and biofilm formation. Autoinducers come in a number of different forms depending on the species, but the effect that they have is similar in many cases. Autoinducers allow bacteria to communicate both within and between different species. This communication alters gene expression and allows bacteria to mount coordinated responses to their environments, in a manner that is comparable to behavior and signaling in higher organisms. Not surprisingly, it has been suggested that quorum sensing may have been an important evolutionary milestone that ultimately gave rise to multicellular life forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lactonase</span> Class of enzymes

Lactonase (EC 3.1.1.81, acyl-homoserine lactonase; systematic name N-acyl-L-homoserine-lactone lactonohydrolase) is a metalloenzyme, produced by certain species of bacteria, which targets and inactivates acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs). It catalyzes the reaction

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autoinducer-2</span> Chemical compound

Autoinducer-2 (AI-2), a furanosyl borate diester or tetrahydroxy furan, is a member of a family of signaling molecules used in quorum sensing. AI-2 is one of only a few known biomolecules incorporating boron. First identified in the marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi, AI-2 is produced and recognized by many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. AI-2 arises by the reaction of 4,5-dihydroxy-2,3-pentanedione, which is produced enzymatically, with boric acid and is recognized by the two-component sensor kinase LuxPQ in Vibrionaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LuxR-type DNA-binding HTH domain</span>

In molecular biology, the LuxR-type DNA-binding HTH domain is a DNA-binding, helix-turn-helix (HTH) domain of about 65 amino acids. It is present in transcription regulators of the LuxR/FixJ family of response regulators. The domain is named after Vibrio fischeri luxR, a transcriptional activator for quorum-sensing control of luminescence. LuxR-type HTH domain proteins occur in a variety of organisms. The DNA-binding HTH domain is usually located in the C-terminal region of the protein; the N-terminal region often containing an autoinducer-binding domain or a response regulatory domain. Most luxR-type regulators act as transcription activators, but some can be repressors or have a dual role for different sites. LuxR-type HTH regulators control a wide variety of activities in various biological processes.

Interspecies quorum sensing is a type of quorum sensing in which bacteria send and receive signals to other species besides their own. This is accomplished by the secretion of signaling molecules which trigger a response in nearby bacteria at high enough concentrations. Once the molecule hits a certain concentration it triggers the transcription of certain genes such as virulence factors. It has been discovered that bacteria can not only interact via quorum sensing with members of their own species but that there is a kind of universal molecule that allows them to gather information about other species as well. This universal molecule is called autoinducer 2 or AI-2.

Acyl-homoserine-lactone synthase is an enzyme with systematic name acyl-(acyl-carrier protein):S-adenosyl-L-methionine acyltranserase . This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction

Acyl-homoserine-lactone acylase (EC 3.5.1.97, acyl-homoserine lactone acylase, AHL-acylase, AiiD, N-acyl-homoserine lactone acylase, PA2385 protein, quorum-quenching AHL acylase, quorum-quenching enzyme, PvdQ, QuiP) is an enzyme with systematic name N-acyl-L-homoserine-lactone amidohydrolase. This enzyme functions as a quorum quencher by catalysing the following chemical reaction

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioluminescent bacteria</span>

Bioluminescent bacteria are light-producing bacteria that are predominantly present in sea water, marine sediments, the surface of decomposing fish and in the gut of marine animals. While not as common, bacterial bioluminescence is also found in terrestrial and freshwater bacteria. These bacteria may be free living or in symbiosis with animals such as the Hawaiian Bobtail squid or terrestrial nematodes. The host organisms provide these bacteria a safe home and sufficient nutrition. In exchange, the hosts use the light produced by the bacteria for camouflage, prey and/or mate attraction. Bioluminescent bacteria have evolved symbiotic relationships with other organisms in which both participants benefit close to equally. Another possible reason bacteria use luminescence reaction is for quorum sensing, an ability to regulate gene expression in response to bacterial cell density.

<i>Myxococcus</i> Genus of bacteria

Myxococcus is a genus of bacteria in the family Myxococcaceae. Myxococci are Gram-negative, spore-forming, chemoorganotrophic, obligate aerobes. They are elongated rods with rounded or tapered ends, and they are nonflagellated. The cells move by gliding and can predate other bacteria. The genus has been isolated from soil.

Everett Peter Greenberg is an American microbiologist. He is the inaugural Eugene and Martha Nester Professor of Microbiology at the Department of Microbiology of the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is best known for his research on quorum sensing, and has received multiple awards for his work.

<i>Delisea pulchra</i> Species of alga

Delisea pulchra is a red algae found in Southern Australia, New Zealand, the Subantarctic Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. It produces a range of secondary metabolites called halogenated furanones that have ecological roles as defenses against epiphytes and herbivores.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.