Inhibition of marine biofouling by bacterial quorum sensing inhibitors

Abstract

Seventy eight natural products from chemical libraries containing compounds from marine organisms (sponges, algae, fungi, tunicates and cyanobacteria) and terrestrial plants, were screened for the inhibition of bacterial quorum sensing (QS) using a reporter strain Chromobacterium violaceum CV017. About half of the natural products did not show any QS inhibition. Twenty four percent of the tested compounds inhibited QS of the reporter without causing toxicity. The QS inhibitory activities of the most potent and abundant compounds were further investigated using the LuxR-based reporter E. coli pSB401 and the LasR-based reporter E. coli pSB1075. Midpacamide and tenuazonic acid were toxic to the tested reporters. QS-dependent luminescence of the LasR-based reporter, which is normally induced by N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, was reduced by demethoxy encecalin and hymenialdisin at concentrations 46.6 μM and 15μM, respectively. Hymenialdisin, demethoxy encecalin, microcolins A and B and kojic acid inhibited responses of the LuxR-based reporter induced by N-3-oxo-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone at concentrations 40.2 μM, 2.2 μM, 1.5 μM, 15 μM and 36 μM, respectively. The ability to prevent microfouling by one of the compounds screened in this study (kojic acid; final concentrations 330 μM and 1 mM) was tested in a controlled mesocosm experiment. Kojic acid inhibited formation of microbial communities on glass slides, decreasing the densities of bacteria and diatoms in comparison with the control lacking kojic acid. The study suggests that natural products with QS inhibitory properties can be used for controlling biofouling communities.

Mini-review: Inhibition of biofouling by marine microorganisms

“…Even though many compounds can inhibit biofouling in laboratory conditions, very little is known about their performance in the field (Dobretsov, Teplitski et al 2011). From an ecological point of view, it is important to learn whether these compounds are produced in situ and whether they are produced in quantities that are sufficient to trigger meaningful responses in marine organisms.…”

Antimacrofouling Efficacy of Innovative Inorganic Nanomaterials Loaded with Booster Biocides

“…The key component of these protective coatings is an active compound used in the antifouling coating-related technology [6]. At present, the antifouling active elements are diverse and range from the widely used metallic antifoulants and organic booster biocides [7], surface-structured compounds [8], protein adsorption inhibitors [9], quorum sensing inhibitors [10], and natural biocides [11], to microorganisms with antifouling properties [12]. The coating formulation enables maximizing the performance of the antifouling paint.…”

Antibiofilm activity substances derived from coral symbiotic bacterial extract inhibit biofouling by the model strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

“…All of these compounds, especially when used in large amounts, or in confined environments, pose serious health and environmental problems due to their toxicity or ecotoxicity (Voulvoulis et al ., 2002; Yebra et al ., 2004; Thomas and Brooks, 2010). The search for QSI compounds has since turned to the ocean and its abundant variety of organisms, many of which are already known to produce useful bioactive compounds, such as halogenated furanones produced by the red alga D. pulchra (Rasmussen et al ., 2000), brominated alkaloids from Flustra foliacea (Peters et al ., 2003), and kojic acid from E. knighti (Dobretsov et al ., 2011). More recently, the culture supernatant from Antarctic marine bacterium P. haloplanktis TAC125 was shown to impair the formation of S. epidermidis biofilm (Papa et al ., 2013; Parrilli et al ., 2015).…”

“…Because this bacterial biofilm formation is, in part, controlled by QS, various QSI strategies have been harnessed from marine microorganisms as compounds which could be used to interfere with bacterial QS, and thus represent novel forms of antifouling agents (Qian and Dahms, 2008; Dobretsov et al ., 2011). Among the array of marine niches, screening for antifouling compounds from coral symbiotic microbes is of particular interest because of their high biodiversity and rich secondary metabolism (Mohamed et al ., 2008; Fusetani, 2011; Karina et al ., 2013).…”

“…Therefore, using QS inhibitors or QSI compounds that degrade signalling molecules to mitigate biofilm fouling represents a significant breakthrough (Dobretsov, 2009). Since then, several studies have demonstrated that QSI compounds are capable of reducing the formation of biofilm and further inhibit the development of biofouling (Cushnie and Lamb, 2011; Dobretsov et al ., 2011; Karina et al ., 2013). Some antifouling substances have recently been identified in microbes and plants (and even animals); these are peptide compounds, such as quorum‐quenching enzyme and small‐molecule compounds (Huang et al ., 2016; Bzdrenga et al ., 2017).…”