Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Quantification of Violacein in Chromobacterium violaceum and Its Inhibition by Bioactive Compounds
Published on: August 8, 2025
Making bacteria behave: new agonists and antagonists of quorum sensing
Megan E Pomianek1, M F Semmelhack
1Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Abstract:
Small-molecule agonists and antagonists of bacterial quorum sensing can enhance our understanding of this form of cell-cell communication. A recent effort has discovered effective modulators of the autoinducer-1 circuit for bacterial quorum sensing by the synthesis and evaluation of a small library of aryl-substituted acyl-homoserine lactone analogues. This series highlights the sensitivity to structure of the contrasting responses of agonism and antagonism of the natural signal and identifies an analogue that provokes the same response as the natural signal but at 10-fold lower concentration, a "superagonist".
Related Concept Videos
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Bacterial Signaling
Regulation of Bacterial Virulence
Global Regulatory Systems
Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors
Transcription of prokaryotic...
Stringent Response in E. coli

