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The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has two complete acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL) signaling systems, LasR-LasI and RhlR-RhlI. LasI catalyzes the synthesis of N-3-oxododecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC12-HSL), and LasR is a transcription factor that requires 3OC12-HSL as a ligand. RhlI catalyzes the synthesis of N-butanoyl homoserine lactone (C 4 ), and RhlR is a transcription factor that responds to C 4 . LasR and RhlR control the transcription of hundreds of P. aeruginosa genes, many of which are critical virulence determinants, and LasR is required for RhlR function. We developed an ultra-high-throughput cell-based assay to screen a library of approximately 200,000 compounds for inhibitors of LasR-dependent gene expression. Although the library contained a large variety of chemical structures, the two best inhibitors resembled the acyl-homoserine lactone molecule that normally binds to LasR. One compound, a tetrazole with a 12-carbon alkyl tail designated PD12, had a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of 30 nM. The second compound, V-06-018, had an IC 50 of 10 M and is a phenyl ring with a 12-carbon alkyl tail. A microarray analysis showed that both compounds were general inhibitors of quorum sensing, i.e., the expression levels of most LasR-dependent genes were affected. Both compounds also inhibited the production of two quorumsensing-dependent virulence factors, elastase and pyocyanin. These compounds should be useful for studies of LasR-dependent gene regulation and might serve as scaffolds for the identification of new quorum-sensing modulators.

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The pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses acylhomoserine lactone quorum-sensing signals to coordinate the expression of a battery of virulence genes in a cascade of regulatory events. The quorum-sensing signal that triggers the cascade is N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC12-HSL), which interacts with two signal receptor-transcription factors, LasR and QscR. This signal is base labile, and it is degraded by mammalian PON lactonases. We have identified a structurally unrelated triphenyl mimic of 3OC12-HSL that is base-insensitive and PON-resistant. The triphenyl mimic seems to interact specifically with LasR but not with QscR. In silico analysis suggests that the mimic fits into the 3OC12-HSL-binding site of LasR and makes key contacts with LasR. The triphenyl mimic is an excellent scaffold for developing quorum-sensing inhibitors, and its stability and potency make it ideal for biotechnology uses such as heterologous gene expression.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase (PHA) from Chromatium Vinosum catalyzes the conversion of 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA (HB-CoA) to polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and CoA. The synthase is composed of a ∼1:1 mixture of two subunits, PhaC and PhaE. Size-exclusion chromatography indicates that in solution PhaC and PhaE exist as large molecular weight aggregates. The holo-enzyme, PhaEC, has a specific activity of 150 units/mg. Each subunit was cloned, expressed, and purified as a (His) 6 -tagged construct. The PhaC-(His) 6 protein catalyzed polymerization with a specific activity of 0.9 unit/mg; the PhaE-(His) 6 protein was inactive (specific activity <0.001 unit/mg). Addition of PhaE-(His) 6 to PhaC-(His) 6 increased the activity several 100-fold. To investigate the priming step of the polymerization process, the PhaEC was incubated with a trimer of HB-CoA in which the terminal hydroxyl was replaced with tritium ( Sequencing by ion trap mass spectrometry showed that they were identical and that they each contained an altered cysteine (C149). One peptide contained the [ 3 H]-sT while the other two contained, in addition to the [ 3 H]-sT, one and two additional monomeric HBs, respectively. Mutation of C149 to alanine gave inactive synthase. The remaining two cysteines of PhaC, 292 and 130, were also mutated to alanine. The former had wild-type (wt) activity, while the latter had 0.004 wt % activity and was capable of making polymer. A mechanism is proposed in which PhaC contains all the elements essential for catalysis and the polymerization proceeds by covalent catalysis using C149 and potentially C130.Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs 1 ) are polyoxoesters with properties that range from elastomers to thermoplastics (1-4). They are produced by a wide range of bacteria when they are placed in an environment of nutrient limitation (5). Copolymers of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polyhydroxyvalerate in the correct ratio have properties similar to the petrochemically based polypropylenes, the major component of bulk plastics (6). In 1997, the US market for thermoplastics was on the order of 40 million tons per year (7). PHAs have recently received much attention because they are biodegradable and can be generated from biorenewable sources: bacteria and plants (8). The major focus of many investigators is to make their production economically competitive with the polypropylenes. To achieve this goal, the requirements for the polymerization process need to be established. This paper focuses on the PHA synthase from Chromatium Vinosum which catalyzes the formation of PHB from 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA (HB-CoA). Evidence is presented that two cysteines and covalent catalysis play an important role in the initiation and elongation of the polymerization process.PHA synthases from 20 organisms have now been identified. They have been divided into three classes based on their substrate specificity and subunit composition (9). The class I synthases, with the Ralstonia eutropha synthase as a prototype, are composed of a single polypeptide (∼65 k...