Synthetic polymers for simultaneous bacterial sequestration and quorum sense interference.

Double agents: dual-action polymers are able to sequester rapidly the marine organism Vibrio harveyi from suspension, while at the same time quenching bacterial quorum sense (QS) signals. The potency of the polymers is assessed by cell aggregation experiments and competitive binding assays against a QS signal precursor, and their effect on bacterial behavior is shown by means of bioluminescence.