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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Anti-virulent Disruption of Pathogenic Biofilms using Engineered Quorum-quenching Lactonases
Published on: January 1, 2016
The influence of fluid flow on modeling quorum sensing in bacterial biofilms
Benjamin L Vaughan1, Bryan G Smith, David L Chopp
1Centre for Mathematical Biology, University of Oxford, UK. vaughan@maths.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
In this paper, we study quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Quorum sensing is a process where bacteria monitor their population density through the release of extra-cellular signalling molecules. The presence of these molecules affects gene modulation leading to changes in behaviour such as the release of virulence factors. Here, we use numerical methods to approximate a 2-D model of quorum sensing. It is observed that the shape of the biofilm can have a profound effect on the onset of quorum sensing. This has serious repercussions for experimental observations since biofilms of the same biomass but different shapes can produce quite different results.
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