[Seminar] Understanding quorum sensing and its impact in the clinic and the environment.

Seminar

Title: Understanding quorum sensing and its impact in the clinic and the environment.

Speaker: Miguel Cámara

Affiliation: Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.

Host: Karina Xavier, Bacterial Signaling Lab

Abstract

Bacterial are capable of complex assemblage behaviour through “quorum sensing” cell-to-cell communication using small signal molecules. Quorum sensing modulates a variety of physiological processes including secondary metabolism, virulence and biofilm development in a variety of plant, animal, soil-borne and marine bacteria. Amongst the most studied quorum sensing systems is that of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which like many other Gram-negative bacteria, employs the N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) family of quorum sensing signal molecules but also 2-Alkyl-4-quinolones (AQs) to control these processes. Our research group has done extensive work on how these quorum sensing signalling systems work how they relate to each other It was initially believed that AHLs could only influence the behaviour of bacteria making these signal molecules. However we have found that these signal molecules are very versatile and can influence the behaviour of not only other Gram-negative bacteria but also Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, both AHLs and AQs can influence host cells responses to infection. We have also shown that AHLs produced by biofilms in the marine environment can influence the behaviour of whole eukaryotic organisms. In particular we have seen that AHLs produced by marine bacterial biofilms can change the behaviour of algal zoospores.
The versatility of quorum sensing molecules and their key role during infection has led us to exploit quorum sensing not only as an alternative target in antimicrobial therapy but also as a biomarker of infection.