Quorum-quenching potential of recombinant PvdQ engineered bacteria for biofilm formation

Abstract

Abstract Quorum sensing (QS) is a core mechanism for bacteria to regulate biofilm formation, and therefore, QS inhibition or quorum quenching (QQ) is used as an effective and economically feasible strategy against biofilms. In this study, the PvdQ gene encoding AHL acylase was introduced into Escherichia coli (DE3), and a PvdQ-engineered bacterium with highly efficient QQ activity was obtained and used to inhibit biofilm formation. Gene sequencing and western blot analysis showed that the recombinant pET-PvdQ strain was successfully constructed. The color reaction of Agrobacterium tumefaciens A136 indicated that PvdQ engineering bacteria had shown strong AHL signal molecule quenching activity, and significantly inhibited the adhesion (motility) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and biofilm formation of activated sludge bacteria in Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR; inhibition rate 51–85%, p < 0.05). In addition, qRT-PCR testing revealed that recombinant PvdQ acylase significantly reduced the transcription level of QS biofilm formation related genes (cdrA, pqsA, and lasR; p < 0.05). In this study, QQ genetically engineered bacteria enhanced by genetic engineering could effectively inhibit the QS signal transduction mechanism and have the potential to control biofilm formation of pathogenic bacteria in the aquaculture environment, providing an environmentally friendly and alternative antibiotic strategy to suppress biofilm contamination.