What Is Quorum Sensing?
Individual bacteria use quorum sensing to detect and respond to changes in cell density as a coordinated group. For example, the first reported evidence of quorum sensing was in two marine bacterial species that emit light in response to high cell density, which is responsible for bioluminescence in various marine hosts. Researchers have identified many species of bacteria that interrelate gene regulation with their neighbors to control a variety of processes, including symbiosis, virulence, antibiotic resistance, and biofilm formation.1
How Does Quorum Sensing Work?Quorum sensing is mediated by bacteria producing, releasing, and detecting extracellular signaling molecules called autoinducers. Typically, when individual bacteria divide, they produce and release autoinducers. When cell density is low, these molecules diffuse in the environment, and bacteria regulate gene expression independently. Autoinducer levels increase as bacteria continue to divide, and when the extracellular concentration of these signaling molecules reaches a certain threshold, individual ...
