Abstract
Quorum sensing (QS) is a mechanism that enables microbial communication. It is based on the constant secretion of signaling molecules to the environment. The main role of QS is the regulation of vital processes in the cell such as virulence factor production or biofilm formation. Due to still growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics that have been overused, it is necessary to search for alternative antimicrobial therapies. One of them is quorum quenching (QQ) that disrupts microbial communication. QQ-driving molecules can decrease or even completely inhibit the production of virulence factors (including biofilm formation). There are few QQ strategies that comprise the use of the structural analogues of QS receptor autoinductors (AI). They may be found in nature or be designed and synthesized via chemical engineering. Many of the characterized QQ molecules are enzymes with the ability to degrade signaling molecules. They can also impede cellular signaling cascades. There are different techniques used for testing QS/QQ, including chromatography-mass spectroscopy, bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, fluorescence, electrochemistry, and colorimetry. They all enable qualitative and quantitative measurements of QS/QQ molecules. This article gathers the information about the mechanisms of QS and QQ, and their effect on microbial biofilm formation. Basic methods used to study QS/QQ, as well as the medical and biotechnological applications of QQ, are also described. Basis research methods are also described as well as medical and biotechnological application.
Highlights
In the environment, bacteria rarely occur as a planktonic form that is frequently exposed to many adverse factors
Such compounds are able to decrease the ability to bacterial biofilm production on different metal surfaces, so they may be applied as anti-corrosive and anti-biofilm products to protect objects from degradation (Piecuch et al 2016; Paluch et al 2018)
This review describes quorum quenching as a relatively new method used to inhibit the production of virulence factors and to prevent biofilm formation by dampening quorum sensing, which interferes with the production of virulence factors involved in quorum sensing
Summary
Bacteria rarely occur as a planktonic form that is frequently exposed to many adverse factors. The bacterial quorum sensing system is based on the production, release, and detection of extracellular chemical signaling molecules, the so-called autoinductors (Whiteley et al 2017) These signals accumulate locally in the environment, and after reaching the appropriate threshold concentration, interact with the receptor protein leading to coordinated changes in the expression of specific genes (Abisado et al 2018). An example of the use of the QS system in Gram-negative bacteria is the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in which there are two pairs of LuxI/LuxR homologs—LasI/LasR and RhlI/RhlR In this bacterium, the quorum sensing system controls the formation of biofilm and the expression of many virulence factors such as elastase, protease, alkaline phosphatase, and exotoxin A. This review describes quorum quenching as a relatively new method used to inhibit the production of virulence factors and to prevent biofilm formation by dampening quorum sensing, which interferes with the production of virulence factors involved in quorum sensing
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