Quorum Sensing: A Cell-Cell Signalling Mechanism Used to Coordinate Behavioral Changes in Bacterial Populations

摘要

One of the most important mechanisms for bacterial cell-to-cell communication and behavior coordination under changing environments is often referred to as "quorum sensing" (QS). QS relies on the activation of a sensor kinase or response regulator protein by, in many cases, a diffusible, low molecular weight signal molecule (a "pheromone" or "autoinducer") (Camara et al., 2002). Consequently, in QS, the concentration of the signal molecule reflects the number of bacterial cells in a particular niche and perception of a threshold concentration of that signal molecule indicates that the population is "quorated", i.e. ready to make a behavioral decision. Bacteria cell-to-cell communication is perhaps the most important tool in the battle for survival; they employ communication to trigger transcriptional regulation resulting in sexual exchange and niche protection in some cases, to battle host' defences and coordinate population migration.