Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Alkyl-Quinoxalin-2(1<i>H</i>)-One Derivatives as Anti-<i>Quorum Sensing</i> Molecules, Inhibiting Biofilm Formation in <i>Aeromonas caviae</i> Sch3

With the increasing antibiotic resistance of bacterial strains, alternative methods for infection control are in high demand. Quorum sensing (QS) is the bacterial communication system based on small molecules. QS is enables bacterial biofilm formation and pathogenic development. The interruption of QS has become a target for drug discovery, but remains in the early experimental phase. In this study, we synthesized a set of six compounds based on a scaffold (alkyl-quinoxalin-2(1H)-one), new in the anti-QS of Gram-negative bacteria Aeromonas caviae Sch3. By quantifying biofilm formation, we were able to monitor the effect of these compounds from concentrations of 1 to 100 &#181;M. Significant reduction in biofilm formation was achieved by 3-hexylylquinoxalin-2(1H)-one (11), 3-hexylylquinoxalin-2(1H)-one-6-carboxylic acid (12), and 3-heptylylquinoxalin-2(1H)-one-6-carboxylic acid (14), ranging from 11% to 59% inhibition of the biofilm. This pilot study contributes to the development of anti-QS compounds to overcome the clinical challenge of resistant bacteria strains

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data