Quorum quenching bacteria isolated from the sludge of a wastewater treatment plant and their application for controlling biofilm formation.

Bacteria recognize changes in their population density by sensing the concentration of signal molecules, N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs). AHL-mediated quorum sensing (QS) plays a key role in biofilm formation, so the interference of QS, referred to as quorum quenching (QQ), has received a great deal of attention. A QQ strategy can be applied to membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for advanced wastewater treatment to control biofouling. To isolate QQ bacteria that can inhibit biofilm formation, we isolated diverse AHL-degrading bacteria from a laboratory-scale MBR and sludge from real wastewater treatment plants. A total of 225 AHLdegrading bacteria were isolated from the sludge sample by enrichment culture. To identify the enzyme responsible for AHL degradation in QQ bacteria, AHL-degrading activities were analyzed using cell-free lysate, culture supernatant, and whole cells. Afipia sp. and Acinetobacter sp. strains produced the intracellular QQ enzyme, whereas Pseudomonas sp. and Micrococcus sp. produced the extracellular QQ enzyme that was most likely to produce AHLacylase. AHL-degrading activity was observed in whole-cell assay with the Microbacterium sp. and Rhodococcus sp. strains. There has been no report for AHL-degrading capability in the case of Streptococcus sp. and Afipia sp. strains. Finally, inhibition of biofilm formation by isolated QQ bacteria or enzymes was observed on glass slides and 96-well microtiter plates using crystal violet staining. QQ strains or enzymes not only inhibited initial biofilm development but also reduced established biofilms.