• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.322-328
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• 2005

Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) are known to be the triggering molecules in the quorum sensing mechanism of many gram-negative bacteria. In order to detect AHL inhibitors that are potential biofilm inhibitors, a convenient and sensitive bioassay was developed based on the $\beta$-galactosidase activity ($\beta$-GAL) of a recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain. A series of commercially available AHLs were tested for inducing $\beta$-GAL at varying concentrations in agar-plate and liquid cultures of the reporter strain. All AHLs tested exhibited a concentration­dependent induction, and octanoyl homoserine lactone (OHL) showed the highest sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.1 nM in the liquid culture assay. When fimbrolide, a known quorum sensing inhibitor, was added, induction of $\beta$-GAL by OHL was repressed. The repression at a constant OHL concentration was dependent on the fimbrolide concentration with the detection limit below 1 ppm, indicating that this assay is a sensitive method for screening AHL inhibitors.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.174.2-174.2
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• 2003

Quorum sensing, a gene expression in response to population density, is regulated by chemical signals, most of which are acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs). The AHL derivatives have been reported to regulate bioluminescence, virulence factors and / or swarming motility in bacteria. It is hypothesized that higher organisms may have evolved specific means to interfere with bacterial communication as exemplified in the AHL-antagonistic activity of halogenated furanones isolated from the Australian macroalga Delisea pulchra. (omitted)