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Use of solid-phase extraction to enable enhanced detection of acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) in environmental samples

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Abstract

A challenge for understanding the role of bacterial cell–cell signalling in the environment is the detection of those signals, which are often present in low (nmol L−1) concentrations. We describe here a simple purification method, solid-phase extraction (SPE), for increasing the sensitivity of detection for one such group of signals, acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), in environmental samples. Spiking of dried marine sponge tissue (Stylinos sp.) with AHLs resulted in detection down to 0.01 ppm for 3-oxo-hexanoyl homoserine lactone (3-oxo C6-HSL) and 1 ppm for hexanoyl homoserine lactone (C6-HSL). Compared with liquid extraction methods use of SPE resulted in twofold and tenfold improvements in sensitivity, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Feodor-Lynen-Fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation to P. Schupp and Australian post-graduate scholarships to T. Charlton and M. Taylor, which are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Guam Marine Laboratory, UOG Station, Mangilao, GUAM 96923, USA

    Peter J. Schupp

  2. Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-Innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052 Australia

    Timothy S. Charlton, Staffan Kjelleberg & Peter D. Steinberg

  3. Department of Microbial Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Michael W. Taylor

Authors
  1. Peter J. Schupp
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  2. Timothy S. Charlton
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  3. Michael W. Taylor
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  4. Staffan Kjelleberg
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  5. Peter D. Steinberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Timothy S. Charlton.

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Schupp, P.J., Charlton, T.S., Taylor, M.W. et al. Use of solid-phase extraction to enable enhanced detection of acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) in environmental samples. Anal Bioanal Chem 383, 132–137 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-005-3387-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-005-3387-x

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