Abisado RG, Benomar S, Klaus JR, Dandekar AA, Chandler JR, et al.
mBio. Date of publication 2018 May 22;volume 9(3):.
1. mBio. 2018 May 22;9(3). pii: e02331-17. doi: 10.1128/mBio.02331-17.
Bacterial Quorum Sensing and Microbial Community Interactions.
Abisado RG(#)(1), Benomar S(#)(1), Klaus JR(#)(1), Dandekar AA(2), Chandler
JR(3).
Author information:
(1)Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas,
USA.
(2)Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington,
USA.
(3)Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas,
USA jrchandler@ku.edu.
(#)Contributed equally
Erratum in
MBio. 2018 Oct 2;9(5):.
Many bacteria use a cell-cell communication system called quorum sensing to
coordinate population density-dependent changes in behavior. Quorum sensing
involves production of and response to diffusible or secreted signals, which can
vary substantially across different types of bacteria. In many species, quorum
sensing modulates virulence functions and is important for pathogenesis. Over the
past half-century, there has been a significant accumulation of knowledge of the
molecular mechanisms, signal structures, gene regulons, and behavioral responses
associated with quorum-sensing systems in diverse bacteria. More recent studies
have focused on understanding quorum sensing in the context of bacterial
sociality. Studies of the role of quorum sensing in cooperative and competitive
microbial interactions have revealed how quorum sensing coordinates interactions
both within a species and between species. Such studies of quorum sensing as a
social behavior have relied on the development of "synthetic ecological" models
that use nonclonal bacterial populations. In this review, we discuss some of
these models and recent advances in understanding how microbes might interact
with one another using quorum sensing. The knowledge gained from these lines of
investigation has the potential to guide studies of microbial sociality in
natural settings and the design of new medicines and therapies to treat bacterial
infections.
Copyright © 2018 Abisado et al.
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02331-17
PMCID: PMC5964356
PMID: 29789364 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
