Quorum quenching and proactive host defense

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Abstract

Both plants and humans have inducible defense mechanisms. This passive defense strategy leaves the host unprotected for a period of time until resistance is activated. Moreover, many bacterial pathogens have evolved cell–cell communication (quorum-sensing) mechanisms to mount population-density-dependent attacks to overwhelm the host's defense responses. Several chemicals and enzymes have been investigated for years for their potential to target the key components of bacterial quorum-sensing systems. These quorum-quenching reagents, which block bacterial cell–cell communications, can disintegrate a bacterial population-density-dependent attack. It has now been shown that a quorum-quenching mechanism can be engineered in plants and might be used as a strategy in controlling bacterial pathogens and to build up a proactive defense barrier.

Section snippets

Fundamentals of AHL-mediated bacterial quorum sensing

The quorum-sensing bacteria produce, detect and respond to small signal molecules known as autoinducers or quorum-sensing signals (‘quormones’, a term proposed by Don Clewell at the American Society for Microbiology Conference on Cell–Cell Communication, July 2001, UT, USA). Several families of quormones that are implicated in the regulation of bacterial virulence have been identified in the past two decades [4], [6], [12], [13], [14], [15] (Fig. 1). Among them, acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs)

Quorum-quenching chemicals and enzymes

Several chemicals and enzymes have been identified in recent years that target the key components of bacterial quorum-sensing systems. These quorum-quenching reagents highlight the feasibility of preventing bacterial infections by blocking bacterial cell–cell communications and will undoubtedly stimulate further research and biotechnological innovation in formulating practical ways to control bacterial diseases.

Transgenic plants producing AHL lactonase

The impact of the quorum-quenching enzymes as an integrated proactive host defense mechanism has recently been investigated using a transgenic approach. The aiiA gene was cloned in a plant expression vector pBI121 and integrated into tobacco and potato genomes by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation [9]. Immunoblotting analysis showed that the AHL-lactonase protein contents of transgenic tobacco leaves and potato tubers were ∼2–7 ng per mg of soluble protein and 20–110 ng per mg of soluble

Perspectives

Several quorum-quenching mechanisms have been identified and tested against the AHL-mediated bacterial quorum-sensing systems. The promising outcome highlights a novel approach to control bacterial diseases. It is expected that similar mechanism could also be developed to control of other bacterial pathogens that use different quorum-sensing systems.

However, our current understanding of quorum-sensing regulation of bacterial virulence is still fragmentary, with most of the information based on

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