- Lactonase
An enzyme, produced by certain species of bacteria, which targets and inactivates acylated
homoserine lactone s (AHLs).Many species of the
Proteobacteria genus from the alpha, beta and gamma classes have been shown to produce acylatedhomoserine lactone s (AHLs), which are small hormone-like molecules commonly used as communication signals between bacterial cells in a population to regulate certain gene expression and phenotypic behaviours [cite journal | author = Fuqua, C., Winans, S. C. & Greenberg, E. P. | title = Census and consensus in bacterial ecosystems: the LuxR-LuxI family of quorum-sensing transcriptional regulators. | journal = Annu. Rev. Microbiol. | volume= 50 |issue = |pages = 727-751 | year= 1996 | pmid = 8905097 | doi = | url = | issn =] . This type of gene regulation is known asquorum sensing .Examples of AHL-producing bacteria include "
Pseudomonas aeruginosa ", an opportunistic pathogen that infects immuno-compromised patients [cite journal | author = Whitehead, N. A., Barnard A. M. L., Slater H., Simpson, N. J. L., and Salmond, G. P. C. | title = Quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria. | journal = FEMS Microbiol. Rev.| volume = 25 | issue = 4 | pages= 365-404 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11524130 | doi = | issn = .] , and "Erwinia carotovora ", a plant pathogen that causes soft rot in a number of crops such as potatoes and carrots [cite journal | author = Pirhonen, M., Flegom, D., Heikinheimo, R., and Palva, E. T.| title = A small diffusible signal molecule is responsible for the global control of virulence and exoenzyme production in the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora. | journal = EMBO J. | volume = 12 | issue = 6 | pages = 2467-2476 | year= 1993 | pmid = 8508772 | doi = | issn = .] .Lactonases are able to interfere with AHL-mediated quorum sensing and some examples of these lactonases are "AiiA" produced by "
Bacillus " species and "AttM" produced by "Agrobacterium tumefaciens ."Mode of Action (Mechanism)
Hydrolysing the lactone bond of AHLs [cite journal | author = Dong, Y., Wang, L., Xu, J., Zhang, H., Zhang, X. and Zhang, L. | title = Quencing quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by an N-acyl homoserine lactonase. | journal = Nature | volume = 411 | issue = 6839 | pages = 813-817 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11459062 | doi = | issn = ] .
Ecology
It is still unclear the ecological effects of lactonase but it has been proposed that since bacteria mostly coexist with other microorganisms in the environment, some bacteria strains could have evolved its feeding strategies and utilize AHLs as their main resource for energy and nitrogen [cite journal | author = Leadbetter, J. R. G., Greenberg, E. P. | title = Metabolism of acyl-homoserine lactone quorum-sensing signals by Variovorax paradoxus. | journal = J. Bacteriol. | volume = 182 | issue = 24 | pages = 6921-6926 | year = 2000 | pmid = 11092851 | doi = | issn = ] .
Applications
By understanding the mechanisms of these actions and purposes of these communications, it could lead to potential applied roles for these lactonases to control bacterial infections and bring about profound effects on human health and the environment.
References
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