Many Proteobacteria use N-acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL) quorum sensing to control specific genes. Acyl-HSL synthesis requires unique enzymes that use S-adenosyl methionine as an acyl acceptor and amino acid donor. We developed and executed an enzyme-coupled high-throughput cell-free screen to discover acyl-HSL synthase inhibitors. The three strongest inhibitors were equally active against ...

In a polymicrobial community, while some bacteria are communicating with neighboring cells (quorum sensing), others are interrupting the communication (quorum quenching), thus creating a constant arms race between intercellular communication. In the past decade, numerous quorum quenching enzymes have been found and initially thought to inactivate the signalling molecules. Though this is widely ...

W e discuss how to lock replicated objects by extending the quorum concept and perform methods o n replicas in a nested invocation. Each method i s issued to a quorum. If a pair of methods are compatible, their quorums may not intersect in our protocol even i f one of the methods is an update type. If a method t is invoked o n multiple replicas and each instance of t invokes another update meth...

Numerous species of bacteria employ a mechanism of intercellular communication known as quorum sensing. This signaling process allows the cells comprising a bacterial colony to coordinate their gene expression in a cell-density dependent manner.1-3 Quorum sensing is mediated by small diffusible molecules termed autoinducers that are synthesized intracellularly (throughout the growth of the bact...

In the present study, variation among different bacterial strains was observed in the plaques of tobacco chewers (TC) as compared to those from normal persons (non tobacco chewers) (NTC). Bacterial strain J1 (dominant in the plaques of NTC) did not initiate the process of adhesion (biofilm formation) until it appeared to have reached a required population density necessary for the production of...

Bacteria are able to synchronize the population behavior in order to regulate gene expression through a cell-to-cell communication mechanism called quorum sensing. This phenomenon involves the production, detection and the response to extracellular signaling molecules named autoinducers, which directly or indirectly regulate gene expression in a cell density-dependent manner. Quorum sensing may...

Vibrio cholerae, the pathogen that causes cholera, also survives in aqueous reservoirs, probably in the form of biofilms. Quorum sensing negatively regulates V. cholerae biofilm formation through HapR, whose expression is induced at a high cell density. In this study, we show that the concentration of the quorum-sensing signal molecule CAI-1 is higher in biofilms than in planktonic cultures. By...

The LasR-dependent and RhlR-dependent quorum-sensing systems are global regulators of gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Previous studies have demonstrated that promoter elements of the quorum-sensing-controlled genes lasB and hcnABC are important in density-dependent regulation. We have identified LasR- and RhlR-dependent determinants in promoters of quorum-sensing-controlled genes qsc...

Quorum sensing is a chemical signaling mechanism used by bacteria to communicate and orchestrate group behaviors. Multiple feedback loops exist in the quorum-sensing circuit of the model bacterium Vibrio harveyi. Using fluorescence microscopy of individual cells, we assayed the activity of the quorum-sensing circuit, with a focus on defining the functions of the feedback loops. We quantitativel...