Interkingdom signaling and its consequences for human health

Structure and Signal Regulation Mechanism of Interspecies and Interkingdom Quorum Sensing System Receptors

Quorum sensing (QS) is a signaling mechanism for cell-to-cell communication between bacteria, fungi, and even eukaryotic hosts such as plant and animal cells. Bacteria in real life do not exist as isolated organisms but are found in complex, dynamic, and microecological environments. The study of interspecies QS and interkingdom QS is a valuable approach for exploring bacteria-bacteria interactions and bacteria-host interaction mechanisms and has received considerable attention from researchers. The correct combination of QS signals and receptors is key to initiating the QS process. Compared with intraspecies QS, the signal regulation mechanism of interspecies QS and interkingdom QS is often more complicated, and the distribution of receptors is relatively wide. The present review focuses on the latest progress with respect to the distribution, structure, and signal transduction of interspecies and interkingdom QS receptors and provides a guide for the investigation of new QS receptors in the future.

Quorum quenching activity of Bacillus cereus isolate 30b confers antipathogenic effects in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Background: Quorum quenching, the interference of a Quorum sensing (QS) system that contributes to the pathogenesis through triggering the production of various virulence determinants, is among the newly suggested antivirulence strategies. Purpose: This study aimed at screening of N-Acyl homoserine lactonase activity from local bacterial isolate, and investigating its effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) virulence and biofilm formation. Materials and methods: Soil bacteria were screened for aiiA gene coding for lactonase enzyme by Polymerase Chain reaction and sequencing of aiiA gene homologs. Lactonase activity and spectrum were assessed in the cell-free lysate by well diffusion assay using Agrobacterium tumafaciens KYC55. A bacterial isolate showing the highest N-acyl-homoserine lactones degradation percentage was identified by gene amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and its aiiA gene homolog. High performance liquid chromatography was used to confirm N-acyl-homoserine lactone degradation. The effect of cell-free lysate on the biofilm formation ability and cytotoxicity of P. aeruginosa PAO1 and P. aeruginosa clinical isolates from different clinical sources were assessed by static microtiter plate and viability assay, respectively Results: Lactonase gene and activity were identified in three Bacillus spp. isolates. They showed broad catalytic activities against tested N-acyl-homoserine lactones. However, The lactonase activity in the cell- free lysate of isolate 30b showed the highest significant degradation percentage on all tested signals; N-butanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (71%), N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (100%), N-decanoyl-homoserine lactone (100%), N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (37.5%), N-(oxodecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (100%), and N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (100%). Alignment of the amino acid sequences of AiiA protein of isolate 30b showed 96% identity with Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) homologous lactonases in the GenBank database, and the isolate was designated as B. cereus isolate 30b. Cell-free lysate of B. cereus isolate 30b reduced biofilm formation significantly in 93% of P. aeruginosa isolates. The highest mean percentage of reduction in the biofilm was 86%. Moreover, the viability percentage of human lung carcinoma A549 cells infected by P. aeruginosa and treated with cell-free lysate of B. cereus isolate 30b increased up to 15%. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the potential of lactonases as a promising strategy to combat Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence.

Role of the Multidrug Resistance Efflux Pump MexCD-OprJ in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing Response

Multidrug efflux pumps constitute a category of antibiotic resistance determinants that are a part of the core bacterial genomes. Given their conservation, it is conceivable that they present functions beyond the extrusion of antibiotics currently used for therapy. Pseudomonas aeruginosa stands as a relevant respiratory pathogen, with a high prevalence at hospitals and in cystic fibrosis patients. Part of its success relies on its low susceptibility to antibiotics and on the production of virulence factors, whose expression is regulated in several cases by quorum sensing (QS). We found that overexpression of the MexCD-OprJ multidrug efflux pump shuts down the P. aeruginosa QS response. Our results support that MexCD-OprJ extrudes kynurenine, a precursor of the alkyl-quinolone signal (AQS) molecules. Anthranilate and octanoate, also AQS precursors, do not seem to be extruded by MexCD-OprJ. Kynurenine extrusion is not sufficient to reduce the QS response in a mutant overexpressing this efflux pump. Impaired QS response is mainly due to the extrusion of 4-hydroxy-2-heptylquinoline (HHQ), the precursor of the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS), leading to low PQS intracellular levels and reduced production of QS signal molecules. As the consequence, the expression of QS-regulated genes is impaired and the production of QS-regulated virulence factors strongly decreases in a MexCD-OprN P. aeruginosa overexpressing mutant. Previous work showed that MexEF-OprJ, another P. aeruginosa efflux pump, is also able of extruding kynurenine and HHQ. However, opposite to our findings, the QS defect in a MexEF-OprN overproducer is due to kynurenine extrusion. These results indicate that, although efflux pumps can share some substrates, the affinity for each of them can be different. Although the QS response is triggered by population density, information on additional elements able of modulating such response is still scarce. This is particularly important in the case of P. aeruginosa lung chronic infections, a situation in which QS-defective mutants are accumulated. If MexCD-OprJ overexpression alleviates the cost associated to triggering the QS response when un-needed, it could be possible that MexCD-OprJ antibiotic resistant overproducer strains might be selected even in the absence of antibiotic selective pressure, acting as antibiotic resistant cheaters in heterogeneous P. aeruginosa populations.

Integrated Signaling Pathways Mediate Bordetella Immunomodulation, Persistence, and Transmission

The mammalian immune system includes a sophisticated array of antimicrobial mechanisms. However, successful pathogens have developed subversive strategies to detect, modulate, and/or evade immune control and clearance. Independent disciplines study host immunology and bacterial pathogenesis, but interkingdom signaling between bacteria and host during natural infection remains poorly understood. An efficient natural host infection system has revealed complex communication between Bordetella spp. and mice, identified novel regulatory mechanisms, and demonstrated that bordetellae can respond to microenvironment and inflammatory status cues. Understanding these bacterial signaling pathways and their complex network that allows precisely timed expression of numerous immunomodulatory factors will serve as a paradigm for other organisms lacking such a powerful experimental infection system. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

Miniaturized dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and MALDI MS using ionic liquid matrices for the detection of bacterial communication molecules and virulence factors

The identification and quantification of molecules involved in bacterial communication are major prerequisites for the understanding of interspecies interactions at the molecular level. We developed a procedure allowing the determination of 2-heptyl-4(1H)-quinolone (HHQ) and 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone (PQS) and the virulence factor pyocyanin (PYO) formed by the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The method is based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction from small supernatant volumes (below 10 μL) followed by quantitative matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS). The use of ionic liquid matrix led to a lowered limit of detection for pyocyanin and, due to suppression of matrix background signals, easy to interpret mass spectra compared to crystalline matrices. Using an isotope-labeled pyocyanin standard synthesized in small-scale synthesis, quantitative analysis spanning approximately one order of magnitude (0.5 to 250 fmol) was feasible. The method was successfully applied to the detection of the signaling molecules PQS and HHQ in cultures of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from sputum of cystic fibrosis patients and allowed a highly sensitive quantification of PYO from these cultures. Hence, the developed method bears the potential to be used for screening purposes in clinical settings and will help to decipher the molecular basis of bacterial communication. Graphical abstract Ionic liquid matrices for the detection and quantification of the toxin pyocyanin and other signaling molecules from P. aeruginosa by MALDI MS.

Methods for Measuring the Production of Quorum Sensing Signal Molecules

One relevant aspect for understanding the bottlenecks that modulate the spread of resistance among bacterial pathogens consists in the effect that the acquisition of resistance may have on the microbial physiology . Whereas studies on the effect of acquiring resistance of bacterial growth are frequently performed, more detailed analyses aiming to understand in depth the cross talk between resistance and virulence, including bacterial communication are less frequent. The bacterial quorum sensing system, is an important intraspecific and interspecific communication system highly relevant for many physiological processes, including virulence and bacterial/host interactions. Some works have shown that the acquisition of antibiotic resistance may impair the quorum sensing response. In addition, some antibiotics as antimicrobial peptides can affect the production and accumulation of the quorum sensing signal molecules. Given the relevance that this system has in the bacterial behavior in the human host, it is important to study the effect that the acquisition of antibiotic resistance may have on the production of quorum sensing signals. In this chapter we present a set of methods for measuring quorum sensing signals based on the use of biosensor strains, either coupled to Thin Layer Chromatography or for performing automated luminometry/spectrophotometry assays. We use Pseudomonas aeruginosa as bacterial model because it has a complex quorum system than encloses different signals. Namely, P. aeruginosa quorum sensing system consists in three different interconnected regulatory networks, each one presenting a specific autoinducer molecule: the las system, which signal is N-(3-oxo-dodecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, the rhl system, which signal is N-butanoyl-homoserine lactone and the pqs system, which signals are 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone together with its immediate precursor 2-heptyl-4-hydroxy-quinoline.

Multidrug Efflux Pumps at the Crossroad between Antibiotic Resistance and Bacterial Virulence

Multidrug efflux pumps can be involved in bacterial resistance to antibiotics at different levels. Some efflux pumps are constitutively expressed at low levels and contribute to intrinsic resistance. In addition, their overexpression may allow higher levels of resistance. This overexpression can be transient, in the presence of an effector (phenotypic resistance), or constitutive when mutants in the regulatory elements of the expression of efflux pumps are selected (acquired resistance). Efflux pumps are present in all cells, from human to bacteria and are highly conserved, which indicates that they are ancient elements in the evolution of different organisms. Consequently, it has been suggested that, besides antibiotic resistance, bacterial multidrug efflux pumps would likely contribute to other relevant processes of the microbial physiology. In the current article, we discuss some specific examples of the role that efflux pumps may have in the bacterial virulence of animals’ and plants’ pathogens, including the processes of intercellular communication. Based in these evidences, we propose that efflux pumps are at the crossroad between resistance and virulence of bacterial pathogens. Consequently, the comprehensive study of multidrug efflux pumps requires addressing these functions, which are of relevance for the bacterial–host interactions during infection.

Quorum Sensing and LuxR Solos in Photorhabdus

Bacterial communication via small diffusible molecules to mediate group-coordinated behaviour is commonly referred to as 'quorum sensing'. The prototypical quorum sensing system of Gram-negative bacteria consists of a LuxI-type autoinducer synthase that produces acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) as signals and a LuxR-type receptor that detects the AHLs to control expression of specific genes. However, many bacteria possess LuxR homologs but lack a cognate LuxI-type AHL-synthase. Those LuxR-type receptors are designated as 'LuxR orphans' or 'solos'. Entomopathogenic bacteria of the genus Photorhabdus all harbour a large number of LuxR solos, more than any other bacteria examined so far. Two novel quorum sensing systems were found to regulate cell clumping in Photorhabdus and therefore affect pathogenicity. In Photorhabdus luminescens and Photorhabdus temperata the LuxR solo PluR senses α-pyrones named 'photopyrones' instead of AHLs, which are produced by the pyrone synthase PpyS. In contrast, Photorhabdus asymbiotica, a closely related insect and human pathogen, has the PluR homolog PauR, which senses dialkylresorcinols produced by the DarABC pathway to regulate pathogenicity. All three Photorhabdus species harbour at least one LuxR solo with an intact AHL-binding motif, which might also allow sensing of exogenous AHLs. However, the majority of the LuxR solos in all Photorhabdus species have a PAS4 signal-binding domain. These receptors are assumed to detect eukaryotic compounds and are proposed to be involved in host sensing. Overall, because of the large number of LuxR solos they encode, bacteria of the genus Photorhabdus are ideal candidates to study and to identify novel bacterial communication networks.