Quorum sensing inhibitors: can endophytes be prospective sources?

Abstract

Endophytes are microbes which reside inside the plant tissues asymptomatically or causing pathogenicity to the host plant for a brief period. Owing to their presence in a specialized niche, endophytes are capable of synthesizing diverse types of bioactive molecules. Continuous development of resistance mechanism by pathogens to the currently available health treatments and pharmaceuticals has led researchers to explore new therapeutic agents. Quorum sensing has a role in the development of microbial pathogenic traits including biofilm formation. Utilization of quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors in antivirulence approach against pathogenesis is one of the innovative strategies. Endophytic microbes provide a plethora of such required bioactive molecules. This review summarizes the bioprospecting of endophytic microbes for production of novel QS inhibitors. At the outset, an overview is presented about the QS and QS inhibition followed by a summary on the endophytes as a treasure trove of bioactive metabolites, particularly the QS inhibitors. Next, we have outlined screening, purification, production, and application of QS inhibitors starting from the isolation of endophytic microbes. There is huge prospect for endophytes in the domain of human healthcare and food industry, provided that we develop a comprehensive understanding of the biology of endophyte and its ecosystem.

Virtual Screening and Biomolecular Interactions of CviR-Based Quorum Sensing Inhibitors Against Chromobacterium violaceum

“…Hence, alternatives to antibiotics is the “need of the hour” which will ultimately reduce morbidity, mortality and economic burden (Laxminarayan et al, 2016 ). Recently, disarming the bacterial virulence seems to be a potential alternate strategy to combat MDR (Rangel-Vega et al, 2015 ; Mookherjee et al, 2018 ). AHL mediated quorum sensing inhibition was reported to be effective in many pathogens including C.violaceum, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Kim et al, 2015 ; Deryabin and Inchagova, 2018 ; Pérez-López et al, 2018 ; Soukarieh et al, 2018 ; Zhou et al, 2018 ).…”

Chemical signals driving bacterial–fungal interactions

“…Although most studies involving Cross Kingdom QSM communication focus on human pathogens, metagenomic and transcriptomic analyses of endophytic bacterial and fungal communities reveal the presence of genes encoding for QSMs and highlight the likely importance of these molecules in endorhizosphere interactions (Sessitsch et al ., 2012; Chetia et al ., 2019). In addition, some endophytic as well as non‐endophytic bacteria and fungi are also found to be prospective sources of quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs), SMs that impede quorum sensing regulation through a process known as quorum quenching (Mookherjee et al ., 2018; Padder et al ., 2018; Fleitas Martínez et al ., 2019; Mehmood et al ., 2019). These QSIs either inhibit the synthesis of known QSMs, interfere with their extracellular accumulation or disrupt signal perception by blocking the QSM‐receptors (Fleitas Martínez et al ., 2019).…”

Identification, ecological evaluation and phylogenetic analysis of non‐symbiotic endophytic fungi colonizing timothy grass and perennial ryegrass grown in adjacent plots

“…Bacillus pumilus, a bacterial species capable of decomposing tolaasin, a harmful toxin for humans and animals, has been previously isolated from the fruit bodies of Coprinellus disseminatus (Tsukamoto, Murata, & Shirata, ). The above findings point to the presence of various interactions, including commensalism and cometabolism, which are probably based on the quorum‐sensing mechanism, or other complex toxic responses of bacterial–fungal consortia or bacterial–fungal–plant consortia (Mookherjee, Singh, & Maiti, ).…”