A novel quorum sensing system co-regulated by chromosome- and plasmid-encoded genes in Serratia marcescens H30

The dependence of quorum sensing in Serratia marcescens JG on the transcription of luxS gene

Bacteria communicate with one another using chemical signal molecules. This phenomenon termed quorum sensing enables the bacteria to monitor the environment for other bacteria and to alter behavior on a population-wide scale in response to cell density. Serratia marcescens JG, a quorum sensing bacterium, can secrete a furanosyl borate diester autoinducer (AI-2) in the exponential phase of growth. In this study, to further investigate the regulation of AI-2 production in S. marcescens JG, the pfs and luxS promoter fusions to an operon luxCDABE reporter were constructed in a low-copy-number vector pBR322K, which allows an examination of transcription of the genes in the pathway for signal synthesis. The results show that the luxS expression is constitutive, and the transcription of luxS is tightly correlated with AI-2 production in S. marcescens JG because the peaks of AI-2 production and transcriptional level of luxS appear at the same time point. The close relation of the profiles of luxS transcription and AI-2 production was also confirmed with real-time PCR technology. These results support the hypothesis that the quorum sensing in S. marcescens JG is luxS dependent.

Inhibition of quorum sensing regulated biofilm formation in Serratia marcescens causing nosocomial infections

Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic pathogen causing severe urinary tract infections in hospitalized individuals. Infections of S. marcescens are of great concern because of its increasing resistance towards conventional antibiotics. Quorum sensing (QS)-a cell to cell communication-system of S. marcescens acts as a global regulator of almost all the virulence factors and majorly its biofilm formation. Since, the QS system of S. marcescens directly accords to its pathogenesis, targeting QS system will provide an improved strategy to combat drug resistant pathogens. In the present study, QS system of S. marcescens has been used as target and its inhibition has been studied upon exposure to bioactives from coral associated bacteria (CAB). This study also emphasises the potential of CAB in producing bioactive agents with anti-QS and antibiofilm properties. Two CAB isolates CAB 23 and 41 have shown to inhibit biofilm formation and the production of QS dependent virulence factors like prodigiosin, protease, lipase and swarming motility. The study, on the whole explicates the potential of QS system as a target to treat drug resistant bacterial infections.

Influence of quorum sensing signal molecules on biofilm formation in Proteus mirabilis O18

The influence of basis of quorum sensing molecules on Proteus strains is much less known as compared to Pseudomonas or Escherichia. We have previously shown that a series of acylated homoserine lactones (acyl-HSL) does not influence the ureolytic, proteolytic, or hemolytic abilities, and that the swarming motility of Proteus mirabilis rods is strain specific. The aim of the presented study was to find out if the presence of a series of acyl-HSL influences biofilm formation of P. mirabilis laboratory strain belonging to O18 serogroup. This serogroup is characterized by the presence of a unique non-carbohydrate component, namely phosphocholine. Escherichia coli and P. mirabilis O18 strains used in this work contains cloned plasmids encoding fluorescent protein genes with constitutive gene expression. In mixed biofilms in stationary and continuous flow conditions, P. mirabilis O18 overgrow whole culture. P. mirabilis O18 strain has genetically proved a presence of AI–2 quorum sensing system. Differences in biofilm structure were observed depending on the biofilm type and culture methods. From tested acylated homoserine lactones (BHL, HHL, OHL, DHL, dDHL, tDHL), a significant influence had BHL on thickness, structure, and the amount of exopolysaccharides produced by biofilms formed by P. mirabilis O18 pDsRed₂.