Quorum Quenching and Biofilm Inhibition: Alternative Imminent Strategies to Control the Disease Cholera

Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the disease cholera still threatens a large proportion of world’s population and is considered as a top priority enteric pathogen. Role of biofilm in V. cholerae pathogenesis is well established as it provides the bacterium with enhanced transmission ability during epidemics and also enhanced tolerance to antimicrobial agents. The clinical efficacy of many existing antibiotics is being threatened by the emergence of multi-drug resistant V. cholerae. The rapidly increasing number of cholera outbreaks in several developing countries and emergence of multidrug resistant V. cholerae necessitates the development of an alternative strategy rather than the existing antibiotic therapy to control the pathogen. In the present chapter, we discuss the different quorum sensing pathways in V. cholerae, the common quorum quenching molecules that targets these pathways and a novel strategy of biofilm inhibition in V. cholerae using antibiofilm compounds in combination with antibiotics to control the disease. Co-dosing strategy reduce the dosage of antibiotics and such a combination therapy can in turn be used to control the spread of antibiotic resistance.