Leishmania antigens are weak immunogens and need to be potentiated by various adjuvants and delivery systems. Alginate microspheres as antigen delivery system and Quillaja saponins (QS) as immunoadjuvant have been used to enhance the immune response against Autoclaved Leishmania major (ALM). Microspheres were prepared by an emulsification technique and characterized for size, encapsulation effi...

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the production of many secreted virulence factors is controlled by a quorum-sensing (QS) circuit, constituted of transcriptional activators (LasR, RhlR, PqsR) and their cognate signaling molecules (3-oxo-C12-HSL, C4-HSL, PQS). QS is a cooperative behavior that is beneficial to a population but can be exploited by "QS-cheaters", individuals which do not respond to the ...

We develop a multiphasic hydrodynamic theory for biofilms taking into account interactions among various bacterial phenotypes, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), quorum sensing (QS) molecules, solvent, and possibly antibiotics. In the model, bacteria are classified into down-regulated QS, upregulated QS, and non QS cells based on their QS ability. We then develop a second-order numerical...

Experiments examining the social dynamics of bacterial quorum sensing (QS) have focused on mutants which do not respond to signals and the role of QS-regulated exoproducts as public goods. The potential for QS signal molecules to themselves be social public goods has received much less attention. Here, we analyze how signal-deficient (lasI) mutants of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeru...

Quorum sensing (QS) is a population density-dependent regulatory mechanism in which gene expression is coupled to the accumulation of a chemical signaling molecule. QS systems are widespread among the plant soft-rotting bacteria. In Pectobacterium carotovorum, at least two QS systems exist being specified by the nature of chemical signals involved. QS in Pectobacterium carotovorum uses N-acylho...

Experiments examining the social dynamics of bacterial quorum sensing (QS) have focused on mutants which do not respond to signals and the role of QSregulated exoproducts as public goods. The potential for QS signal molecules to themselves be social public goods has received much less attention. Here, we analyze how signal-deficient (lasI) mutants of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aerug...

Communication has been suggested as a mechanism to stabilize cooperation. In bacteria, chemical communication, termed quorum sensing (QS), has been hypothesized to fill this role, and extracellular public goods are often induced by QS at high cell densities. Here we show, with the bacterium Vibrio harveyi, that QS provides strong resistance against invasion of a QS defector strain by maximizing...

Quorum sensing (QS) is a population-density dependent chemical process that enables bacteria to communicate based on the production, secretion and sensing of small inducer molecules. While recombinant constructs have been widely used to decipher the molecular details of QS, how those findings translate to natural QS systems has remained an open question. Here, we compare the activation of natur...