Autoinducer-2 associated inhibition by Lactobacillus sakei NR28 reduces virulence of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7

Bacteria use quorum sensing (QS) to regulate the expression of certain target genes for social behaviour. A LuxS/AI-2 signalling system serves to control the virulence of some pathogenic bacteria by mechanisms such as motility, biofilm formation and attachment, and is typical of the enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) associated with infections of the human intestine. The LuxS/AI-2 signalling system presents an interesting potential as antimicrobial target for appropriate AI-2 inhibitors, and thus widens the scope for treatment or prevention of infections by pathogens such as EHEC. Probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are primary candidates for this approach because of their general acceptability, safety and adaptation to the intestinal and/or food ecosystem. In this paper, we report on Lactobacillus sakei NR28 as a new candidate strain for AI-2 related quorum quenching. It is considered to be a putative probiotic strain and was originally isolated from kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food known for its special health features. This study has shown that AI-2 activity and the associated virulence factors of the EHEC ‘wild-type’ strain E. coli ATCC 43894, were significantly reduced by L. sakei NR28, while, at the same time, the cell viability of the EHEC strain was not affected. In addition, the purified AI-2 molecule, a luxS-deficient mutant of EHEC strain ATCC 43894, and an AI-2 independent EHEC mimicking strain of Citrobacter rodentium were used to determine the relationship between the virulence reducing effect of L. sakei NR28 and its AI-2 inhibiting ability. Our results showed that L. sakei NR28 has a reducing effect on the pathogenicity of the ‘wild-type’ EHEC strain ATCC 43894 by AI-2 signalling inhibition. •Lactobacillus sakei NR28 from Korean kimchi exhibits functional properties.•L. sakei NR28 reduced AI-2 activity and virulence of E. coli 0157:H7 (EHEC).•Cell viability of the EHEC strain was not affected.•Results were confirmed in vivo using Citrobacter rodentium as a new model.