The marine environment presents great potential as a source of microorganisms that possess novel enzymes with unique activities and biochemical properties. Examples of such are the quorum-quenching (QQ) enzymes that hydrolyze bacterial quorum-sensing (QS) signaling molecules, such as N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs). QS is a form of cell-to-cell communication that enables bacteria to synchronize gene expression in correlation with population density. Searching marine metagenomes for sequences homologous to an AHL lactonase from the phosphotriesterase-like lactonase (PLL) family, we identified new putative AHL lactonases (sharing 30 to 40% amino acid identity to a thermostable PLL member). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these putative AHL lactonases comprise a new clade of marine enzymes in the PLL family. Following recombinant expression and purification, we verified the AHL lactonase activity for one of these proteins, named moLRP (marine-originated lactonase-related protein). This enzyme presented greater activity and stability at a broad range of temperatures and pH, tolerance to high salinity levels (up to 5 M NaCl), and higher durability in bacterial culture, compared to another PLL member, parathion hydrolase (PPH). The addition of purified moLRP to cultures of Pseudomonas fluorescens inhibited its extracellular protease activity, expression of the protease encoding gene, biofilm formation, and the sedimentation process in milk-based medium. These findings suggest that moLRP is adapted to the marine environment and can potentially serve as an effective QQ enzyme, inhibiting the QS process in Gram-negative bacteria involved in food spoilage. IMPORTANCE Our results emphasize the potential of sequence and structure-based identification of new QQ enzymes from environmental metagenomes, such as from the ocean, with improved stability or activity. The findings also suggest that purified QQ enzymes can present new strategies against food spoilage, in addition to their recognized involvement in inhibiting bacterial pathogen virulence factors. Future studies on the delivery and safety of enzymatic QQ strategy against bacterial food spoilage should be performed.
Keywords: Pseudomonas fluorescens; bacterial food spoilage; biofilm; enzyme characterization; exoprotease activity; metagenomics; quorum-quenching lactonase; quorum-sensing.