吲哚——种间及跨界信号分子新成员

A new interspecies and interkingdom signaling molecule——Indole

吲哚作为一种典型的氮杂环芳烃化合物,在自然界中广泛存在。近年来,越来越多的研究表明吲哚具有一定的生物活性,是一种新型种间及跨界的信号分子。研究发现,吲哚不仅可以调节微生物的毒性、耐药性、生物膜形成以及群感效应等生理生化行为,调控植物生长发育和防御系统的形成过程,还能够影响动物的肠道炎症、细胞氧化压力及荷尔蒙分泌等生理健康。因此吲哚在微生物代谢、动物健康和植物生长等多个方面扮演了重要角色,具有重要的生物学及生态学双重意义。文中综述了吲哚从生物代谢到信号传递的研究历史,及其在微生物种内或种间以及微生物-动植物之间跨界的信号传导与调控作用的研究进展,旨在为揭示复杂环境中吲哚生物代谢及信号调控的生物学意义与生态学机制提供重要的理论指导。

Indole,as a typical N-heterocyclic aromatic compound,is widespread in natural environment.A growing number of researches have proved that indole is a new interspecies and interkingdom signal molecule with certain biological activities.Indole could regulate virulence,biofilm formation,antibiotic tolerance and quorum sensing of bacteria.Indole not only modulates plant growth and defense system,but also affects intestinal inflammation,oxidative stress and hormone secretion in animals.Hence indole plays important roles in diverse aspects such as microbial metabolism,human health and plant growth,holding important significance both in biology and ecology.This review presents the history of indole from biological metabolism to signal transmission,the current knowledge on indole as an intercellular and interspecies signal of microorganisms,and interkingdom signal between bacteria and plants or animals.This review will help to explore the biological significant and ecological mechanism of indole metabolic and signal regulation in complex environment.