RESUMO
The effect of the natural ketones emitted by bacteria (2-nonanone, 2-heptanone, 2-undecanone) on the functioning of the Quorum Sensing (QS) systems was studied. In this work, three lux-reporter strains containing the components of the LasI/LasR, RhlI/RhlR, LuxI LuxR QS systems were used as biosensors for the N-acyl-homoserine lactones. It was shown that at concentrations of ketones that exhibited little or no bactericidal action the ketones could modulate the QS-response by suppressing the expression of the lux-operon reporter to a greater extent than the cell viability of these strains.
Assuntos
Técnicas Biossensoriais , Escherichia coli/genética , Cetonas/metabolismo , Percepção de Quorum/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Ligases/genética , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Transativadores/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/genéticaRESUMO
In the natural ecosystems, most bacteria exist as specifically organized biofilms attached to various surfaces; the biofilms have a complex architecture and are surrounded by an exopolymeric matrix. The bacteria in the biofilms are extremely resistant to antibacterial agents. The ability of the pathogenic bacteria to produce biofilms causes serious problems in medicine. Therefore, the study of the action of different compounds with antibacterial activity is of great interest. In this work, we studied the effect of the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the formation of biofilms by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. It was shown that H2O2 in concentrations that do not suppress bacterial growth (or suppress it only weakly) stimulates the formation of the biofilms. At higher concentrations, H2O2 inhibits the formation of the biofilms. In order to determine if the stimulation of the biofilm formation depends on Quorum Sensing (QS) regulation, the plasmid pME6863 containing the heterologous gene aiiA encoding the N-acyl-homoserine lactonase AiiA was introduced into P. aeruginosa PAO1. The synthesis by cells of this enzyme degrading N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL), signaling molecules of the QS systems, led to the absence of the stimulation of the biofilm formation by the action of H2O2. This fact indicates that the stimulation of the biofilm formation in the presence of H2O2 depends on the functioning of the QS systems of the gene expression regulation of P. aeruginosa PAO1.
