Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Quorum sensing molecules production by nosocomial and soil isolates Acinetobacter baumannii

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Acinetobacter species remain alive in hospitals on various surfaces, both dry and moist, forming an important source of hospital infections. These bacteria are naturally resistant to many antibiotic classes. Although the role of the quorum sensing system in regulating the virulence factors of Acinetobacter species has not been fully elucidated, it has been reported that they play a role in bacterial biofilm formation. The biofilm formation helps them to survive under unfavorable growth conditions and antimicrobial treatments. It is based on the accumulation of bacterial communication signal molecules in the area. In this study, we compared the bacterial signal molecules of 50 nosocomial Acinetobacter baumannii strain and 20 A. baumannii strain isolated from soil. The signal molecules were detected by the biosensor bacteria (Chromobacterium violaceum 026, Agrobacterium tumefaciens A136, and Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL1) and their separation was determined by thin-layer chromatography. As a result, it has been found that soil-borne isolates can produce 3-oxo-C8-AHL and C8-AHL, whereas nosocomial-derived isolates can produce long-chain signals such as C10-AHL, C12-AHL, C14-AHL and C16-AHL. According to these results, it is possible to understand that these signal molecules are found in the infection caused by A. baumannii. The inhibition of this signaling molecules in a communication could use to prevent multiple antibiotic resistance of these bacteria.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baumann P (1968) Isolation of Acinetobacter from soil and water. J Bacteriol 96:39–42

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bhargava N, Sharma P, Capalash N (2015) Quorum sensing in Acinetobacter baumannii. Quorum sensing vs quorum quenching: a battle with no end in sight. Springer, India, pp 101–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Boşgelmez-Tınaz G, Ulusoy S, Arıdoğan B, Eroğlu F, Kaya S (2005) N-butanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (BHL) deficient Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from an intensive care unit. Microbiol Res 160:399–403. doi:10.1016/j.micres.2005.03.005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bozkurt F, Kaya S, Tekin R, Gulsun S, Deveci O, Dayan S, Hosoglu S (2014) Analysis of antimicrobial consumption and cost in a teaching hospital. J Infect Public Health 7:161–169. doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2013.09.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Castillo-Juarez I et al. (2017) Exploiting quorum sensing inhibition for the control of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii biofilms. Curr Top Med Chem 7. PMID:28056745

  • Chan K-GG et al (2011) Characterization of N-acylhomoserine lactone-degrading bacteria associated with the Zingiber officinale (ginger) rhizosphere: co-existence of quorum quenching and quorum sensing in Acinetobacter and Burkholderia. BMC Microbiol 11:51. doi:10.1186/1471-2180-11-51

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chan K-G, Cheng HJ, Chen JW, Yin W-F, Ngeow YF (2014) Tandem mass spectrometry detection of quorum sensing activity in multidrug resistant clinical isolate Acinetobacter baumannii. Sci World J. doi:10.1155/2014/891041

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen H, Fujita M, Feng Q, Clardy J, Fink GR (2004) Tyrosol is a quorum-sensing molecule in Candida albicans. PNAS 101:5048–5052. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401416101

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chow JY, Yang Y, Tay SB, Chua KL, Yew WS (2014) Disruption of biofilm formation by the human pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii using engineered quorum-quenching lactonases. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 58:1802–1805. doi:10.1128/AAC.02410-13

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • de Kievit TR, Iglewski BH (2000) Bacterial quorum sensing in pathogenic relationships. Infect Immun 68:4839–4849. doi:10.1128/iai.68.9.4839-4849.2000

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ertek M (2008) Hastane Enfeksiyonları: Türkiye Verileri. İÜ Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi Sürekli Tıp Eğitimi Etkinlikleri 60:9–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuqua WC, Winans SC, Greenberg EP (1994) Quorum sensing in bacteria: the LuxR–LuxI family of cell density-responsive transcriptional regulators. J Bacteriol 176:269–275 (PMC205046)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • González RH, Nusblat A, Nudel BC (2001) Detection and characterization of quorum sensing signal molecules in Acinetobacter strains. Microbiol Res 155:271–277. doi:10.1016/S0944-5013(01)80004-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • González RH, Dijkshoorn L, Van den Barselaar M, Nudel C (2009) Quorum sensing signal profile of Acinetobacter strains from nosocomial and environmental sources. Rev Argent Microbiol 41:73–78 PMID:19623895

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalia VC (2013) Quorum sensing inhibitors: an overview. Biotechnol Adv 31:224–245. doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2012.10.004

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kostoulias X et al (2016) Impact of a cross-kingdom signaling molecule of Candida albicans on Acinetobacter baumannii physiology. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 60:161–167. doi:10.1128/AAC.01540-15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koul S, Prakash J, Mishra A, Kalia VC (2016) Potential emergence of multi-quorum sensing inhibitor resistant (MQSIR) bacteria. Indian J Microbiol 56:1–18. doi:10.1007/s12088-015-0558-0

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClean KH et al (1997) Quorum sensing and Chromobacterium violaceum: exploitation of violacein production and inhibition for the detection of N-acylhomoserine lactones. Microbiology (Reading, England) 143(Pt 12):3703–3711

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McLean RJ, Pierson LS, Fuqua C (2004) A simple screening protocol for the identification of quorum signal antagonists. J Microbiol Methods 58:351–360. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2004.04.016

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller J (1972) Experiments in molecular genetics. Cold Springs Harbor University Press, Cold Spring Harbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Modarresi F, Azizi O, Shakibaie MR, Motamedifar M, Mansouri S (2016) Cloning and expression of quorum sensing N-acyl-homoserine synthase (LuxI) gene detected in Acinetobacter baumannii. Iran J Microbiol 8:139 (PMC4906721)

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Morohoshi T, Kato M, Fukamachi K, Kato N, Ikeda T (2008) N-acylhomoserine lactone regulates violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum type strain ATCC 12472. FEMS Microbiol Lett 279:124–130. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2007.01016.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pina PGP, Grosbuis S, Guyot L, Ghnassia JC, Allouch PY (1998) An Acinetobacter baumanii outbreak at the Versailles Hospital Center. Pathol Biol 46:385–394 PMID:9769866

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Priya K, Yin W-FF, Chan K-GG (2013) Anti-quorum sensing activity of the traditional Chinese herb, Phyllanthus amarus. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) 13:14558–14569. doi:10.3390/s131114558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw PD, Ping G, Daly SL, Cha C, Cronan JE, Rinehart KL, Farrand SK (1997) Detecting and characterizing N-acyl-homoserine lactone signal molecules by thin-layer chromatography. PNAS 94:6036–6041. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.12.6036

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sio CF et al (2006) Quorum quenching by an N-acyl-homoserine lactone acylase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Infect Immun 74:1673–1682. doi:10.1128/IAI.74.3.1673-1682.2006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Stacy DM, Welsh MA, Rather PN, Blackwell HE (2012) Attenuation of quorum sensing in the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii using non-native N-Acyl homoserine lactones. ACS Chem Biol 7:1719–1728. doi:10.1021/cb300351x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tariq TM (2014) Bacteriologic profile and antibiogram of blood culture isolates from a Children’s Hospital in Kabul. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak 24:3396–3399 PMID:24953929

    Google Scholar 

  • Waheed H, Hashmi I, Khan SJ, Kim SR, Arshad M, Nasir H (2016) Microbial population dynamics and profiling of quorum sensing agents in membrane bioreactor. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad 113:66–73. doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2015.12.014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zahin M, Hasan S, Aqil F, Khan MS, Husain FM, Ahmad I (2010) Screening of certain medicinal plants from India for their anti-quorum sensing activity. Indian J Exp Biol 48:1219–1224 PMID:21250604

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The data of this study have been excerpted from the Ph.D. thesis of the author. This work was financed by Hacettepe University Scientific Research Project grant BAP 013BDYP604002.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Institute of Science, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Demet Erdönmez

  2. Department of Medical Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Yüksek İhtisas University, Ankara, Turkey

    Abbas Yousefi Rad

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nilüfer Aksöz

Authors
  1. Demet Erdönmez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abbas Yousefi Rad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nilüfer Aksöz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Demet Erdönmez.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All of the authors declare they have no competing interest.

Additional information

Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Erdönmez, D., Rad, A.Y. & Aksöz, N. Quorum sensing molecules production by nosocomial and soil isolates Acinetobacter baumannii . Arch Microbiol 199, 1325–1334 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-017-1408-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-017-1408-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation