{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.020950846091861403, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0016116035455278, 'mean_word_length': 5.977528089887641, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
δ‐Lactone Derivatives Induce Quorum Sensing Activity in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Previous work by Andersh et. al has shown that synthetic δ‐lactone derivatives exhibit bacteriostatic activity against Acinetobacter lwoffii and Bacillus subtilis. In this study, we probe the effects of the δ‐lactone derivatives on the process of quorum sensing due to the structural similarity of these compounds to homoserine lactones, quorum sensing autoinducers in Gram‐negative bacteria. Quorum sensing is under investigation in the area of antibiotic development, because quorum sensing modifiers may exhibit weaker evolutionary pressures on the bacteria to develop drug resistance. The quorum sensing activity of four chlorine‐substituted δ‐lactone derivatives were quantified using UV‐Vis absorbance on an engineered biodetector strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL4(pZLR4). Sub‐millimolar concentrations of the δ‐lactones were shown to enhance the quorum sensing activity of A. tumefaciens natural autoinducers, trigger this response in the absence of cognate autoinducer, and decrease bacterial growth. We are analyzing the effect of the δ‐lactone derivatives on the ability of A. tumefaciens to induce Crown Gall tumorigenesis in potato slices.