Quorum Sensing-Disrupting Brominated Furanones Protect the Gnotobiotic Brine Shrimp Artemia franciscana from Pathogenic Vibrio harveyi,

Autoinducer 2 (AI-2) quorum sensing was shown before to regulate the virulence of Vibrio harveyi towards the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana. In this study, several different pathogenic V. harveyi, Vibrio campbellii, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates were shown to produce AI-2. Furthermore, disruption of AI-2 quorum sensing by a natural and a synthetic brominated furanone protected gnotobiotic Artemia from the pathogenic isolates in in vivo challenge tests. Bacteria belonging to the species Vibrio harveyi and the closely related Vibrio campbellii and Vibrio parahaemolyticus are important pathogens in the intensive rearing of mollusks