Abstract
Bacteria employ various signaling systems to communicate and sense their environment. The autoinducer type II (AI-2) signaling system is, however, unique in its widespread presence across the bacterial kingdom, allowing communication within and across bacterial species. The S. anginosus bacterial group is commensal to humans but may also be associated with several life threatening diseases including abscesses and cancer. We identified the presence of AI-2 signal production in the S. anginosus group and several other oral streptococci. To investigate the role of AI-2 production in biofilm formation and antibiotic susceptibility, the luxS gene which encodes the enzyme catalyzing AI-2 synthesis was inactivated in S. anginosus and S. intermedius. The resultant S. anginosus and S. intermedius luxS mutants displayed significant reduction in biofilm formation compared to their wild type counterparts. S. anginosus luxS mutant was significantly more susceptible to several subinhibitory concentrations of ampicillin and erythromycin. Supplementation of AI-2 signals significantly restored biofilm formation in S. intermedius and antibiotic susceptibility in S. anginosus to their wild type levels. Targeting AI-2 signaling in bacteria may provide novel and valuable clinical applications in the future.
List of papers
Paper I: Fernanda C. Petersen, Nibras A.M. Ahmed, Alioddin Naemi and Anne Aamdal Scheie. 2006. LuxS-mediated signalling in Streptococcus anginosus and its role in biofilm formation. The paper is not available in DUO. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-006-9065-y |
Paper II: Nibras A.M. Ahmed, Fernanda C. Petersen and Anne Aamdal Scheie. 2008. Biofilm formation and AI-2 signaling in Streptococcus intermedius: role of thermal and pH factors. Oral Microbiology and Immunology. In press. The paper is not available in DUO. |
Paper III: Nibras A.M. Ahmed, Fernanda C. Petersen and Anne Aamdal Scheie. 2007. AI-2 quorum sensing affects antibiotic susceptibility in Streptococcus anginosus. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 60: 49–53. The paper is not available in DUO. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkm124 |