Autoinducer-2, considered a universal signaling molecule, is
produced by many species of bacteria; including oral strains.
Structurally, autoinducer-2 can exist bound to boron (borated
autoinducer-2). Functionally, autoinducer-2 has been linked
to important bacterial processes such as virulence and biofilm
formation. In order to test production of autoinducer-2 by a
given bacterial strain, a bioassay using marine bioluminescent
bacteria Vibrio harveyi as a reporter for autoinducer-2
has been designed. We hypothesize that pH adjustment and
addition of boron are required for optimal bioluminescence
and accurate autoinducer-2 detection. Using this reporter
strain we tested autoinducer-2 activity from two oral commensal
species, Streptococcus gordonii DL1 and Streptococcus
oralis 34. Spent broth was collected and adjusted to pH 7.5
and supplemented with boric acid prior to measuring autoinducer-
2 activity. Results show that low pH inhibits bioluminescence
of the reporter strain, but pH 7.5 allows for bioluminescence
induction and proper readings of autoinducer-2
activity. Addition of boric acid also has a positive effect on
bioluminescence allowing for a more sensitive detection of
autoinducer-2 activity. Our data suggests that although autoinducer-
2 is present in spent broth, low pH and/or low levels
of boric acid become an obstacle for proper autoinducer-2
detection. For proper autoinducer-2 detection, we propose a
protocol using this bioassay to include pH adjustment and
boric acid addition to spent broth. Studies on autoinducer-2
activity in several bacteria species represent an important area
of study as this universal signaling molecule is involved in
critical bacterial phenotypes such as virulence and biofilm
formation.
Citations
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Human protease inhibitor nexin-I(NX-I) cDNA(1.2Kb) was isolated from human lung cDNA library and expressed under the control of T7 promoter as a fused protein in Escherichia coli BL21 and E. coli GJ1158 by addition of IPTG and Nacl as inducers. For GJ1158, 300 mM NaCl was added for induction after the cell reached A_600=0.6. As a result, E. coli GJ1158 showed higher expression level than BL2l with lesser extent of inclusion bodies. The optimum concentration of NaCl exerting no induction effect but shortening the time to reach A_600=0.6 was 50 mM. All the results suggested that E. coli GJ1158 was a useful host for efficient expression of NX-I using NaCl as an inducer. The expressed NX-1 showed an inhibitory effect on thrombin activity. The expressed protein was purified by immobilized metal affinity column chromatography (IMAC) and characterized by digestion with enterokinase (EK).