Quenching quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by an N-acyl homoserine lactonase
Quenching quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by an N-acyl homoserine lactonase
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DOI：
10.1038/35081101
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发表时间：
2001-06-14
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Zhang, LH
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dong, YH;Wang, LH;Zhang, LH
细菌细胞通过复杂的细胞间通讯系统感知其种群密度，并在密度达到阈值时触发特定基因的表达。这种类型的基因调控，控制不同的生物功能，包括毒力，被称为群体感应（1，2）。群体感应信号，如酰基高丝氨酸内酯（AHLs），是通讯系统的重要组成部分。AHL调节一系列植物和动物（包括人类）细菌病原体中的毒力基因表达（3 - 9）。产生AHL的烟草恢复了胡萝卜软腐欧文氏菌AHL阴性突变体的致病性（10）。不同的细菌物种可以产生不同的AHL，其在酰基链的长度和取代上不同，但含有相同的高丝氨酸内酯部分。在这里，我们表明，酰基高丝氨酸内酯酶（AHL-内酯酶），一种新的酶从芽孢杆菌。(11)通过水解AHL的内酯键使AHL活性失活。表达AHL-内酯酶的植物淬灭了病原菌群体感应信号，并表现出对大肠杆菌的显著增强的抗性。胡萝卜软腐菌感染我们的研究结果突出了一个有前途的潜力，使用群体感应信号作为疾病控制的分子靶点，从而扩大了目前的方法，预防细菌感染。
Bacterial cells sense their population density through a sophisticated cell-cell communication system and trigger expression of particular genes when the density reaches a threshold. This type of gene regulation, which controls diverse biological functions including virulence, is known as quorum sensing(1,2). Quorum-sensing signals, such as acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), are the essential components of the communication system. AHLs regulate virulence gene expression in a range of plant and animal (including human) bacterial pathogens(3-9). AHL-producing tobacco restored the pathogenicity of an AHL-negative mutant of Erwinia carotovora(10). Different bacterial species may produce different AHLs, which vary in the length and substitution of the acyl chain but contain the same homoserine lactone moiety. Here we show that the acyl-homoserine lactonase (AHL-lactonase), a new enzyme from Bacillus sp.(11), inactivates AHL activity by hydrolysing the lactone bond of AHLs. Plants expressing AHL-lactonase quenched pathogen quorum-sensing signalling and showed significantly enhanced resistance to E. carotovora infection. Our results highlight a promising potential to use quorum-sensing signals as molecular targets for disease control, thereby broadening current approaches for prevention of bacterial infections.