A review article: Anti-quorum sensing agents as a potential replacement for antibiotics in Phytobacteriology

Abstract

Quorum sensing is a bacterial cell to cell communication, which helps bacteria to mount population-density-dependent infection to overcome the defence responses from the host. In this mechanism some diffusible chemical signalling compounds are involved, known as autoinducers, which are directly proportional to the population cell density. The main role of quorum sensing is to coordinate the expression of several collective traits, including biofilm formation, bioluminescence, epiphytic fitness, Production of virulence factors, secondary metabolites with antimicrobial activity, pigments, siderophores, plasmid transfer and motility. Due to the growing bacterial resistance to the antibiotics that have been overused, it has become necessary to search for alternative antimicrobial therapies. One of them is anti-quorum sensing agents/anti-biofilm agents/quorum sensing inhibitors that disrupts the bacterial communication. This review article discusses the various quorum sensing-disrupting mechanisms used by anti-quorum sensing agents such as, inhibition of Autoinducer synthesis inhibition of transport of Autoinducers, degradation of autoinducers using enzymes, sequestration using monoclonal antibodies, signal competition, as well as the different techniques applied artificially to inhibit the quorum sensing pathways in bacteria and thus, protecting plant from bacterial diseases.