Purification and Structural Analysis of QS-inhibiting Compounds from Staphylococcus delphini

Abstract

The knowledge that many pathogens rely on cell-to-cell communication mechanisms known as quorum sensing, opens a new disease control strategy: quorum quenching. Here we present a purification protocol for molecules excreted by a group of Gram-positive zoonotic pathogen bacteria, the ‘Staphylococcus intermedius group’, that suppress the quorum sensing signaling and inhibit the growth of a broad spectrum of Gram-negative beta- and gamma-proteobacteria. These compounds were isolated from Staphylococcus delphini (S. delphini). They represent a new class of quorum quenchers with the chemical formula N-[2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]-urea and N-(2-phenethyl)-urea, which we named yayurea A and B, respectively. These substances can be isolated and purified from the culture supernatant using this upscalable purification method.