• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제50권1호
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• pp.1-14
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• 2022

Bacteria communicate with each other through an intricate communication mechanism known as quorum sensing (QS). QS regulates different behavioral aspects in bacteria, such as biofilm formation, sporulation, virulence gene expression, antibiotic production, and bioluminescence. Several different chemical signals and signal detection systems play vital roles in promoting highly efficient intra- and interspecies communication. Gram-negative bacteria coordinate gene regulation through the production of acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs). Gram-positive bacteria do not code for AHL production, while some gram-negative bacteria have an incomplete AHL-QS system. Despite this fact, these microbes can detect AHLs owing to the presence of LuxR solo receptors. Various studies have reported the role of AHLs in interspecies signaling. Moreover, as bacteria live in a polymicrobial community, the production of extracellular compounds to compete for resources is imperative. Thus, AHL-mediated signaling and inhibition are considered to affect virulence in bacteria. In the current review, we focus on the synthesis and regulation mechanisms of AHLs and highlight their role in interspecies bacterial signaling. Exploring interspecies bacterial signaling will further help us understand host-pathogen interactions, thereby contributing to the development of therapeutic strategies intended to target chronic polymicrobial infections.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제47권4호
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• pp.651-661
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• 2019

Targeting the pathogen viability using drugs is associated with development of drug resistance due to selective pressure. Hence, there is an increased interest in developing agents that target bacterial virulence. In this study, the inhibitory effect of ciclopirox, an antifungal agent with iron chelation potential, on the microbial virulence factors was evaluated in 26 clinical MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates collected from Alexandria Main University Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Egypt. Treatment with 9 ㎍/ml ciclopirox inhibited the hemolytic activity in 70% isolates, reduced pyocyanin production, decreased protease secretion in 46% isolates, lowered twitching and swarming motility, and decreased biofilm formation by 1.5- to 4.5-fold. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that treatment with ciclopirox downregulated the expression levels of alkaline protease (aprA) and pyocyanin (phzA1). Ciclopirox is used to treat hematological malignancies and the systemic administration of ciclopirox is reported to have adequate oral absorption with a satisfactory drug safety profile. It is important to calculate the appropriate clinical dose and therapeutic index to reposition ciclopirox from a topical antifungal agent to a promising virulence-modifying agent agent against P. aeruginosa, a problematic Gram-negative pathogen.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.190-200
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• 2016

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) causes bacterial leaf blight (BLB) in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In this study, we investigated the effect of a mutation in opsX (XOO1056), which encodes a saccharide biosynthesis regulatory protein, on the virulence and bacterial chemotaxis of Xoo. We performed DNA micro-array analysis, which showed that 63 of 2,678 genes, including genes related to bacterial motility (flagellar and chemotaxis proteins) were significantly downregulated ($<\;-2\;log_2$ fold changes) by the mutation in opsX. Indeed, motility assays showed that the mutant strain was nonmotile on semisolid agar swarm plates. In addition, a mutant strain (opsX::Tn5) showed decreased virulence against the susceptible rice cultivar, IR24. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR reaction was performed to confirm the expression levels of these genes, including those related to flagella and chemotaxis, in the opsX mutant. Our findings revealed that mutation of opsX affects both virulence and bacterial motility. These results will help to improve our understanding of Xoo and provide insight into Xoo-rice interactions.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.171-175
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• 2018

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell density-dependent communication mechanism between bacteria through small signaling molecules. When the number of QS signaling molecules reaches a threshold, they are transported back into the cells or recognized by membrane-bound receptors, triggering gene expression which affects various phenotypes including bioluminescence, virulence, adhesion, and biofilm formation. These phenotypes are beneficial for bacterial survival in harsh environments. This review summarizes the application of QS inhibitors for control of biofilm formation and virulence expression of periodontal pathogens.

• 한국토양비료학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.253-260
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• 2000

Agrobacterium tumefaciens에 존재하는 Ti 플라스미드의 virulence(vir)유전자들은 상처난 식물세포에서 분비되는 페놀화합물에 의해서 발현이 유도된다. 본 연구에서는 3종류의 A. tumefaciens들을 대상으로 8종의 페놀화합물들 중에서 vir유전자의 발현에 영향을 미치는 페놀 화합물들의 종류와 이들 균주에서 발현되는 vir유전자의 활성을 조사하였다. A. tumefaciens MW102에 존재하는 vir유전자는 4-hydroxyacetophenone, phenol, catechol, resorcinol과 vanillin등 5종류의 페놀화합물들에 의해서 높게 발현된 반면, 다른 A. tumefaciens Mw105와 Mw108의 vir유전자들은 이들 페놀화합물들에 의해서 매우 낮게 발현되거나 또는 발현되지 않았다. 또한 A. tumefaciens Mw102는 A. tumefaciens Mw105와 Mw108의 vir유전자를 매우 높게 발현시키는 acetosyringene에 의해서는 매우 낮게 발현되었다. 따라서 vir유전자의 발현을 유도시키는 능력은 Ti 플라스미드들의 종류와 페놀화합물들의 종류에 따라서 서로 다르다는 결과를 얻었다. 결과적으로 vir유전자 유도능력의 차이는 vir A 유전자에서 발현되는 sensor단백질의 차이 때문일 것으로 사료된다.

• 한국미생물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국미생물학회 2009년도 International Meeting of the Microbiological Society of Korea
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• pp.137-138
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• 2009

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.220-226
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• 2014

Sixty-seven Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates from surface seawater from the Wando area, on the southern coast of Korea, were analyzed for their susceptibility to 15 different antimicrobials and the presence of virulence genes. According to the disk diffusion susceptibility test, all of the strains studied were resistant to ampicillin and oxacillin, while decreasing percentages were resistant to vancomycin (64.2%), streptomycin (56.7%), amikacin (31.3%), kanamycin (22.3%), cephalothin (20.9%), erythromycin (10.4%), ciprofloxacin (4.5%), and tetracycline (3.0%). All of the strains were susceptible to five antimicrobials: chloramphenicol, gentamycin, nalidixic acid, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and trimethoprim. Fifty-nine isolates (88.1%) were resistant to three or more classes of antimicrobial and defined as multidrug resistant, and two strains were resistant to seven antimicrobial agents. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the 67 V. parahaemolyticus isolates to ampicillin and oxacillin ranged from 512-2,048 and $64-512{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. All 67 isolates were also examined for the presence of the tdh and trh virulence genes using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, no isolates possessed either tdh or trh. The VPA0477 (${\beta}$-lactamase) gene, present in all of the tested strains, was validated as a new specific marker gene in PCR assays for the accurate detection and identification of V. parahaemolyticus.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제49권6호
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• pp.800-806
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• 2016

In total, 151 Escherichia coli isolates from Ruditapes philippinarum in Gomso Bay were analyzed for their susceptibility to 18 different antimicrobial agents and for genes associated with virulence. For virulence genes, each strain of the isolates was positive for the enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC)-specific heat-stable toxin (estA), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC)-specific invasion-associated locus (iaa) gene and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC)-specific attaching and effacing (eae) gene. According to a disk diffusion susceptibility test, resistance to ampicillin was most prevalent (23.2%), followed by resistance to amoxicillin (22.5%), ticarcillin (20.5%), tetracycline (18.5%), nalidixic acid (12.6%), ciprofloxacin (10.6%), streptomycin (9.9%), and chloramphenicol (6.6%). More than 35.8% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent, and 19.9% were resistant to four or more classes of antimicrobials; these were consequently defined as multidrug resistant. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges for the antimicrobial resistance of the 15 different antimicrobial agents of 54 E. coli strains were confirmed by varying the concentrations from $32-2,048{\mu}g/mL$. Overall, these results not only provide novel insights into the necessity for seawater and R. philippinarum sanitation in Gomso Bay but they also help to reduce the risk of contamination by antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• 제38권3호
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• pp.117-121
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• 2000

Recent advances in studies of bacterial gene expression and light microscopy show that cell-to cell communication and communication and community behavior are the rule rather than the exception. One type of cell-cell communication, quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria involves acyl-homoserine lactone signals. This type of quorum sension represents a dedicated communication system that enables a given species to sense when it has reached a critical population density. and to respond by activating expression of specific genes. The LuxR and LuxI proteins of Vibrio fisheri are the founding members of the acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing signal receptor and signal generator families of proteins. Acyl-homeserine lactone signaling in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one model for the relationship between quorum sensing community behavior, and virulence. In the P. aeruginosa model. quorum sensing is required for normal biofilm maturation and virulence. There are multiple quorum-sensing circuits that control the expression of dozens of specific genes in P. aeruginosa.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.171-178
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• 2017

A series of novel effector molecules secreted by the type three secretion system (T3SS) of Shigella spp. have been reported in recent years. In this study, a proteomic approach was applied to study T3SS effectors systematically. First, proteins secreted by the S. flexneri wild-type strain after Congo Red induction were separated and identified using two-dimensional electrophoresis to display the relative abundance of all kinds of early effectors for the first time. Then, a gene deletion mutant of known virulence repressor (OspD1) and a gene overexpressed mutant of two known virulence activators (MxiE and IpgC) were constructed and analyzed to discover potential late effectors. Furthermore, the supernatant proteins of gene deletion mutants of two known translocators (IpaB and IpaD), which would constantly secrete effectors, were also analyzed. Among all of the secreted proteins identified in our study, IpaH1.4, IpaH_5, and IpaH_7 have not been reported before. These proteomics data of the secreted effectors will be valuable to understand the pathogenesis of S. flexneri.