Widespread Existence of Quorum Sensing Inhibitors in Marine Bacteria: Potential Drugs to Combat Pathogens with Novel Strategies

Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) is a phenomenon of intercellular communication discovered mainly in bacteria. A QS system consisting of QS signal molecules and regulatory protein components could control physiological behaviors and virulence gene expression of bacterial pathogens. Therefore, QS inhibition could be a novel strategy to combat pathogens and related diseases. QS inhibitors (QSIs), mainly categorized into small chemical molecules and quorum quenching enzymes, could be extracted from diverse sources in marine environment and terrestrial environment. With the focus on the exploitation of marine resources in recent years, more and more QSIs from the marine environment have been investigated. In this article, we present a comprehensive review of QSIs from marine bacteria. Firstly, screening work of marine bacteria with potential QSIs was concluded and these marine bacteria were classified. Afterwards, two categories of marine bacteria-derived QSIs were summarized from the aspects of sources, structures, QS inhibition mechanisms, environmental tolerance, effects/applications, etc. Next, structural modification of natural small molecule QSIs for future drug development was discussed. Finally, potential applications of QSIs from marine bacteria in human healthcare, aquaculture, crop cultivation, etc. were elucidated, indicating promising and extensive application perspectives of QS disruption as a novel antimicrobial strategy.

Quorum Quenching in a Novel Acinetobacter sp. XN-10 Bacterial Strain against Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum

“…However, because of the adverse impacts of chemicals on the environment and human health, they are no longer recommended for use [ 7 , 8 ]. Therefore, quorum quenching (QQ) based on the disruption of quorum sensing (QS) has been put forward and regarded as a promising strategy to combat pathogenic infection [ 9 ].…”

Attenuation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Virulence Factors by a Mixture of Natural Antimicrobials

“…Natural antimicrobials are known to be effective in reducing bacterial pathogenicity via direct [13] or indirect [26] anti-virulence activity. For example, the surface proteins involved in the virulence of Staphylococcus aureus are inhibited by venom peptides from being promising candidates for the treatment of related infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria [27] Quorum-sensing molecules originating from marine bacteria can control virulence, with gene expression being described as a novel antimicrobial strategy in aquaculture [28]. Another mechanism by which natural antimicrobials can reduce virulence refers to their involvement in bacterial physiology, as it has been shown that phenolic compounds can disrupt the expression and function of efflux pumps [29].…”

Quorum Sensing Inhibition by Marine Bacteria

“…Indeed, prokaryotic byproducts is one of the strategies popularly adopted to interrupt QS mechanism. Numerous reports on bacterial metabolites with QQ activity have been published, including those from marine sources (some examples will be presented later in this review [18,22,66,67,68]. However, information on marine microbial species is limited when compared to their terrestrial counterparts, and many molecules remain to be identified [66].…”