Synergistic activation of quorum sensing in Vibrio harveyi

Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) has been suggested to serve as a ubiquitous quorum sensing (QS) signal that mediates intra- and interspecies cross-talk between bacteria. To add tools for the study of its function in bacterial communication, we present a new and an improved synthetic route to AI-2 and aromatic analogues. We used this strategy to prepare naphthyl-DPD, and observed remarkably high synergistic activity at low nanomolar concentrations for this analogue in Vibrio harveyi.