AUTHOR=Gonzales Mélanie , Plener Laure , Armengaud Jean , Armstrong Nicholas , Chabrière Éric , Daudé David 

TITLE=Lactonase-mediated inhibition of quorum sensing largely alters phenotypes, proteome, and antimicrobial activities in Burkholderia thailandensis E264

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1190859

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2023.1190859

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p><italic>Burkholderia thailandensis</italic> is a study model for <italic>Burkholderia pseudomallei</italic>, a highly virulent pathogen, known to be the causative agent of melioidosis and a potential bioterrorism agent. These two bacteria use an (acyl-homoserine lactone) AHL-mediated quorum sensing (QS) system to regulate different behaviors including biofilm formation, secondary metabolite productions, and motility.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Using an enzyme-based quorum quenching (QQ) strategy, with the lactonase <italic>Sso</italic>Pox having the best activity on <italic>B. thailandensis</italic> AHLs, we evaluated the importance of QS in <italic>B. thailandensis</italic> by combining proteomic and phenotypic analyses.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>We demonstrated that QS disruption largely affects overall bacterial behavior including motility, proteolytic activity, and antimicrobial molecule production. We further showed that QQ treatment drastically decreases <italic>B. thailandensis</italic> bactericidal activity against two bacteria (<italic>Chromobacterium violaceum</italic> and <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic>), while a spectacular increase in antifungal activity was observed against fungi and yeast (<italic>Aspergillus niger</italic>, <italic>Fusarium graminearum</italic> and <italic>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</italic>).</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>This study provides evidence that QS is of prime interest when it comes to understanding the virulence of <italic>Burkholderia</italic> species and developing alternative treatments.</p></sec>