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Production of N-acyl homoserine lactones by Chromobacterium haemolyticum KM2 isolated from the river water in Malaysia

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Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) is a term used to describe cell-to-cell communication that enables bacteria to orchestrate group behaviours according to density of bacterial cells. In Gram-negative bacteria, this signalling system is widely known to regulate a variety of different phenotypes such as antibiotic production and biofilm formation. In this study, we report the production of N-acyl homoserine lactones produced by Chromobacterium haemolyticum strain KM2, a bacterium isolated from a river water of a reserved tropical national park. Preliminary screening of QS activity using biosensor reporter assays indicated that C. haemolyticum strain KM2 produces both short- and long-chain AHLs. Analysis with high-resolution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) analysis revealed the production of three AHLs by strain KM2: N-octanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL), N-dodecanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C12-HSL), and N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (OC12-HSL). This bacterial isolate also exhibited strong β-haemolytic activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documentation of QS activity and multiple AHLs production by C. haemolyticum strain KM2.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge University of Malaya for the High-Impact Research Grant (UM-MOHE HIR Grant UM.C/625/1/HIR/MOHE/CHAN/14/1, no. H-50001-A000027) awarded to Kok-Gan Chan and PPP Grant (PG081-2015B; to Kumutha Priya).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Genome Centre, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China

    Kumutha Priya, Wai-Fong Yin & Kok-Gan Chan

  2. Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health Malaysia, Jalan Bangsar, 50590, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Joanita Sulaiman

  3. Division of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

    Kumutha Priya, Kah Yan How, Wai-Fong Yin & Kok-Gan Chan

Authors
  1. Kumutha Priya
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  2. Joanita Sulaiman
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  3. Kah Yan How
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  4. Wai-Fong Yin
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  5. Kok-Gan Chan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kok-Gan Chan.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

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Priya, K., Sulaiman, J., How, K.Y. et al. Production of N-acyl homoserine lactones by Chromobacterium haemolyticum KM2 isolated from the river water in Malaysia. Arch Microbiol 200, 1135–1142 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-018-1526-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-018-1526-y

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