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S. D. PILLAI, Poultry Science Dept., Texas A&M Univ., 418 Kleberg Ctr., 2472 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2472 The bacterial quorum sensing concept is revolutionary. It is revolutionary, because it questions the fundamental view that microbial cells live as single entities, and that their response to the environment is driven by primarily chemical and physical stimuli. It is now recognized that the previously held view that microbial cells respond as single entities is rather overly simplistic because bacterial cells can communicate with each other through auto-inducer molecules which function as signaling molecules. Thus it is logical that if we are to control the proliferation and survival of bacterial communities, we should be developing strategies to interrupt or modulate these communication signals. Studies in our laboratory have shown that certain foods may contain compounds that can influence key quorum sensing signals namely AI-2. We are currently working on identifying, purifying, and characterizing these "inhibitory compounds". Understanding the relationships that exist between the food components and the autoinducer microbial activity of pathogens and food spoilage bacteria can be important in formulating the next generation of foods that are microbiologically safe and with extended shelf-lives.
Session 42, Control of quorum sensing signals and antimicrobial effects on foods
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |