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Quenching quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by anN-acyl homoserine lactonase

Naturevolume 411, pages813–817 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

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 sensing1,2. 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 pathogens3,4,5,6,7,8,9. AHL-producing tobacco restored the pathogenicity of an AHL-negative mutant ofErwinia carotovora10. 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 fromBacillus 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 toE.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.

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Figure 1: ESI-MS and tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the hydrolysis product of OHHL.
Figure 2: Genetic constructs for plant transformation and expression ofaiiA messenger RNA in transgenic plants.
Figure 3: AHL-lactonase enzyme activity andE. carotovora inoculation.
Figure 4: Plant inoculation withErwinia carotovora SCG1.

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Accession codes

Accessions

GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ

Data deposits

The 16S rDNA sequence ofBacillus sp. 240B1 has been deposited in GenBank under accession numberAF350926.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Kerr, M. E. Tate, V. Sundaresan and K. Sampath for critical reviews of the manuscript. Funding was provided by the National Science and Technology Board of Singapore.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yi-Hu Dong and Lian-Hui Wang: These authors contributed equally to this work

  2. Lian-Hui Zhang: Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to L.-H.Z.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biosignals and Bioengineering, Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, 117604, Singapore

    Yi-Hu Dong, Lian-Hui Wang, Jin-Ling Xu, Hai-Bao Zhang, Xi-Fen Zhang & Lian-Hui Zhang

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Correspondence toLian-Hui Zhang.

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Dong, YH., Wang, LH., Xu, JL.et al. Quenching quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by anN-acyl homoserine lactonase.Nature411, 813–817 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35081101

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