Biosensor-based assays for PQS, HHQ and related 2-alkyl-4-quinolone quorum sensing signal molecules

MexEF-OprN Efflux Pump Exports the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS) Precursor HHQ (4-hydroxy-2-heptylquinoline)

Bacterial cells have evolved the capacity to communicate between each other via small diffusible chemical signals termed autoinducers. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen involved, among others, in cystic fibrosis complications. Virulence of P. aeruginosa relies on its ability to produce a number of autoinducers, including 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinolines (HAQ). In a cell density-dep...

Conversion of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quinolone Signal and Related Alkylhydroxyquinolines by Rhodococcus sp. Strain BG43.

A bacterial strain, which based on the sequences of its 16S rRNA, gyrB, catA, and qsdA genes, was identified as a Rhodococcus sp. closely related to Rhodococcus erythropolis, was isolated from soil by enrichment on the Pseudomonas quinolone signal [PQS; 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone], a quorum sensing signal employed by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The isolate, termed...

Conversion of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quinolone Signal ( PQS ) and Related

Periodontal pathogens produce quorum sensing signal molecules.

Different species of bacteria important in the composition of dental plaque were tested for production of extracellular autoinducer-like activities that stimulate the expression of the luminescence genes in Vibrio harveyi. Several strains of Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Porphyromonas gingivalis were found to produce such activities. Interestingly, these bacteria belong to...

Effects of Osmotic Stress on Rhamnolipid Synthesis and Time-Course Production of Cell-To-Cell Signal Molecules by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Biosynthesis of biosurfactant rhamnolipids by Pseudomonas aeruginosa depends on two hierarchical quorum sensing systems, LasRI and RhlRI, which synthesize and sense the signal molecules N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (3OC₁₂-HSL) and N-butyryl-L-homoserine lactone (C₄-HSL), respectively. The Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS) is a third cell-to-cell signal molecule connecting these two...