CRC: Characterization of Changes in Molecular Structure and Activity of Autoinducer Molecules Relevant to Bacterial Chemical Communication

该奖项支持南卡罗来纳大学的Alan Decho、Stanley Angel、Lee Ferguson和John Ferry的合作努力，以了解自动诱导剂分子、这些分子在环境条件下如何转化，以及这些分子如何与蛋白质受体相互作用。酰化高丝氨酸内酯，AHL，是存在于革兰氏阴性细菌中的一类分子。AHL允许一种细菌与附近的其他细菌进行交流，从而产生群体感应。这个项目将解决四个主要问题：1)特定的环境应激源，如光、pH、湿度和金属离子如何改变AHL分子；(2)AHL/蛋白质结合的变化如何改变调节蛋白质的络合作用；(3)AHL/蛋白质结合的变化导致基因表达的变化；以及(4)拉曼和荧光寿命特征能否用于原位成像和定量完整和改变的AHL？该项目由化学合作研究计划(CRC)资助，为本科生和研究生提供了在环境分析化学、光谱学和微生物学的非常广泛的领域获得知识和技能的绝佳机会。将开发新的技术，包括高通量多变量环境变化研究和新的光谱工具，可以在复杂的环境样品中检测低水平的AHL。将探索这种化学信号通路在微生物垫子和其他环境设置中的意义。

This award supports the collaborative efforts of Alan Decho, Stanley Angel, Lee Ferguson and John Ferry, all at the University of South Carolina, to understand autoinducer molecules, how these molecules are transformed under environmental conditions, and how the molecules interact with protein receptors. Acylated homoserine lactones, AHLs, are a family of molecules present in gram-negative bacteria. The AHLs allow one bacterium to communicate with others nearby, leading to quorum sensing. This project will address four major questions: 1) How do specific environmental stressors such as light, pH, humidity and metal ions modify AHL molecules; (2) How do changes in the AHLs alter complexation to regulatory proteins; (3) Which changes in AHL/Protein Binding result in changes in gene expression; and (4) Can Raman and fluorescence-lifetime signatures be used to image and quantify in situ intact and altered AHLs?This project is funded through the Collaborative Research in Chemistry Program (CRC) and provides outstanding opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students to acquire knowledge and skills in very broad areas of environmental analytical chemistry, spectroscopy and microbiology. New techniques, including high-throughput multivariate environmental transformation studies and new spectroscopic tools that can detect low levels of AHLs in complex environmental samples will be developed. The implications of this chemical signalling pathway in microbial mats and other environmental settings will be explored.