title: Development of an extraction method and LC-MS analysis for N-acylated-l-homoserine lactones (AHLs) in wastewater treatment biofilms.
abstract: N-Acylated-l-homoserine lactones (AHLs) play a vital role in Gram-negative bacteria communication by promoting the formation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and biofilms. However, the low concentration of these AHL signals makes the process difficult to understand. A robust and sensitive pretreatment method for AHL detection was developed in this work. Compared with eight different solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns and three various solid extraction method, we found that the UE (ultrasonic extraction) and an Oasis hydrophilic-lipophilic-balanced (HLB) sorbent in column format combined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography linked to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) can be successfully used for systematic pretreating moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) biological samples to extract AHLs and determine concentration of AHLs in wastewater treatment biofilms. This easy-to-follow protocol makes it ideal for quantitative analyses of AHLs in wastewater treatment biofilms.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schmieder
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, PR China. Electronic address: hqren@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongqiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018441:Biofilms; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D053038:Quorum Sensing; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D013010:Sonication; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: N-Acylated-l-homoserine lactones (AHLs); Quorum sensing (QS); Solid phase extraction (SPE); Ultrasonic extraction (UE)