Quorum sensing and quorum quenching in food-related bacteria

Abstract

Antimicrobial disinfection agents are usually misused, which can lead to the emergence of resistant microorganisms. This phenomenon is becoming a major problem worldwide with growing concern in public health. Bacteria ability to detect and respond to population density is called quorum sensing (QS), which is a mechanism that regulates a series of physiological activities, including virulence, sporulation and biofilm formation. In this sense, the inhibition of QS could be a good strategy to prevent or reduce food spoilage and bacterial pathogenicity. The inactivation or degradation of QS signal molecules is known as QS inhibition or quorum quenching (QQ). There are different types of quorum-sensing inhibitors (QSIs) or QQ compounds, from synthetic to natural ones of different origin. Pathogenic and spoilage bacteria capable of forming biofilms are a significant problem for the food industries, as their biofilm-forming ability protects them from common cleaning processes. With the increasing occurrence of foodborne outbreaks, there is a growing interest in the research of novel strategies to prevent or reduce microbial contamination in food industries, especially those that aim at inhibiting the quorum sensing system. Briefly, this chapter will summarize the latest findings and future challenges of QS and QQ on food-related bacteria.