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. 2023 Jan;60(1):372-381.
doi: 10.1007/s13197-022-05624-9. Epub 2022 Nov 27.

Inhibitory effects of hexanal on acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) production to disrupt biofilm formation and enzymes activity in Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas fluorescens

Ying Zhang  1   2   3 , Hang Yu  2   3   4   5 , Yunfei Xie  2   3   4   5 , Yahui Guo  2   3   4   5 , Yuliang Cheng  2   3   4   5 , Weirong Yao  2   3   4   5
Affiliations

Inhibitory effects of hexanal on acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) production to disrupt biofilm formation and enzymes activity in Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas fluorescens

Ying Zhang et al. J Food Sci Technol. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas fluorescens were two bacteria commonly caused the spoilage of vegetables through biofilm formation and secretion of extracellular enzymes. In this study, N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C6-HSL) and N-Octanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL) were confirmed as acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) signal molecule produced by E. carotovora and P. fluorescens, respectively. In addition, quorum sensing inhibitory (QSI) effects of hexanal on AHLs production were evaluated. Hexanal at 1/2 minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was achieved 76.27% inhibitory rate of 3-oxo-C6-HSL production in E. carotovora and a inhibitory rate of C8-HSL (60.78%) in P. fluorescens. The amount of biofilm formation and activity of extracellular enzymes treated with 1/2 MIC of hexanal were restored with different concentrations (10 ng/mL, 50 ng/mL, 100 ng/mL) of exogenous AHLs (P < 0.05), which verified QSI effect of hexanal on biofilm and extracellular enzymes were due to its inhibition on AHLs production. Molecular docking analysis showed that hexanal could interact with EcbI and PcoI protein to disrupt AHLs production. Furthermore, results showed that sub-MICs of hexanal could suppress expressions of ecbI and pcoI genes in AHL-mediated QS system of E. carotovora and P. fluorescens. This study provides theoretical support for the application of essential oils as QS inhibitors in the preservation of vegetables.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-022-05624-9.

Keywords: Acylated homoserine lactones; Erwinia carotovora; Hexanal; Pseudomonas fluorescens; Quorum sensing inhibitor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interestThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
β-galactosidase activity and growth curve in E. carotovora (A) and P. fluorescens (B)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mass spectrum and chromatogram of 3-oxo-C6-HSL (A, C) and C8-HSL (B, D) standards; characterized and quantified 3-oxo-C6-HSL and C8-HSL detected in the supernatant of E. carotovora (E) and P. fluorescens (F), respectively
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Inhibitory rate of hexanal on 3-oxo-C6-HSL (A) and C8-HSL (B) produced in the supernatant of E. carotovora and P. fluorescens, respectively. Restoration effect on the biofilm formation by adding external 3-oxo-C6-HSL (C) into the 1/2 MIC hexanal-treated E. carotovora and C8-HSL (D) into the 1/2 MIC hexanal-treated P. fluorescens. The control refers to the two bacteria without the hexanal treatment
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Restoration effect on pectatelyase (A), polygalcturonase (B), cellulase (C), xylanase (D), and protease (E) activity by adding external 3-oxo-C6-HSL into the 1/2 MIC hexanal-treated E. carotovora, and restoration effect on protease (F) activity by adding external C8-HSL into the 1/2 MIC hexanal-treated P. fluorescens. The control refers to the two bacteria without the hexanal treatment
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Molecular interaction of hexanal molecule with EcbI protein (A) and PcoI protein (B) in E. carotovora and P. fluorescens, respectively. The two-dimensional diagram of interaction between hexanal and EcbI protein (a) and PcoI protein (b) were also displayed
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The expression of ecbI gene (A) and pcoI gene (B) in E. carotovora and P. fluorescens, respectively, with the treatment of hexanal at 0, 1/10, 1/5, and 1/2 MIC
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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