Articles of Significant Interest Selected from This Issue by the Editors

摘要

N-Acylhomoserine lactone acylase (AHL acylase) is an enzyme associated with the disruption of cell-cell communication (quorum quenching) in bacteria. Kusada et al. (e00080-17) recently isolated a new quorum-quenching AHL acylase (designated MacQ) from a multidrug-resistant bacterium. Intriguingly, this enzyme is further able to degrade various β-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins and cephalosporins, by deacylation activity, and it confers antibiotic resistance on the host. This study links β-lactam antibiotic resistance with quorum quenching by the discovery of a novel bifunctional acylase capable of degrading both AHLs and β-lactams, and it further provides the possibility that AHL acylase genes can be an overlooked source of antibiotic resistance.