Lyngbyoic Acid, a "Tagged" Fatty Acid from a Marine Cyanobacterium, Disrupts Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Quorum sensing (QS) is a mechanism of bacterial gene regulation in response to increases in population density. Production of small molecule QS signals, their accumulation within a diffusion-limited environment and their binding to the LuxR-type receptor trigger QS-controlled gene regulatory cascades. QS pathways mediated by acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) in Gram-negative bacteria are the best studied. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, for example, binding of AHLs to their cognate receptors (LasR, RhlR) controls production of virulence factors, pigments, antibiotics and other behaviors important for its interactions with eukaryotic hosts and other bacteria. We isolated a new small cyclopropane-containing fatty acid, lyngbyoic acid (1), as a major metabolite of the marine cyanobacterium, Lyngbya sp., collected off Fort Pierce, Florida. The structure of 1 was determined by NMR, MS and optical rotation. We screened 1 against four reporters based on AHL receptors from Vibrio fischeri (LuxR), Aeromonas hydrophila (AhyR), Agrobacterium tumefaciens (TraR) and P. aeruginosa (LasR) and found that 1 most strongly affected LasR. We show, by using a defined set of reporters, that compound 1 acts both through the AHL-binding site of LasR and independent of it. We also show that 1 reduces pyocyanin and LasB, both on the protein and transcript level, in wild-type P. aeruginosa, and that 1 directly inhibits LasB enzymatic activity. Conversely, dodecanoic acid (11) increased pyocanin and LasB, demonstrating that 1 is a tagged fatty acid potentially resistant to -oxidation.

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Kwan JC, Meickle T, Ladwa D, Teplitski M, Paul V, Luesch H