Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2025

Time-lapse Imaging of Bacterial Swarms and the Collective Stress Response
Published on: May 23, 2020
Dynamical behaviors of quorum sensing network mediated by combinatorial perturbation
Menghan Chen1, Haihong Liu2, Ruiqi Wang1
1Department of Mathematics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
Abstract:
The dynamical behaviors of the quorum sensing (QS) system are closely related to the release drugs and control the PH value in microorganisms and plants. However, the effect of the main molecules AiiA, LuxI, H$ _2 $O$ _2 $, and time delayed individual and combinatorial perturbation on the QS system dynamics and the above-mentioned biological phenomena is still unclear, which are seen as a key consideration in our paper. This paper formulates a QS computational model by incorporating these several substances. First, for the protein production time delay, a critical value is given by Hopf bifurcation theory. It is found that a larger time delay can lead to a larger amplitude and a longer period. This indicates that the length of time for protein synthesis has a regulatory effect on the release of drugs from the bacterial population. Second, hen the concentrations of AiiA, LuxI, and H$ _2 $O$ _2 $ is modulated individually, the QS system undergoes periodic oscillation and bistable state. Meanwhile, oscillatory and bistable regions can be significantly affected by simultaneously perturbing any two parameters related to AiiA, LuxI, and H$ _2 $O$ _2 $. This means that the individual or simultaneous changes of the three intrinsic molecular concentrations can effectively control the drugs release and the PH value in microorganisms and plants. Finally, the sensitivity relationship between the critical value of the delay and AiiA, LuxI, H$ _2 $O$ _2 $ parameters is analyzed.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Bacterial Signaling
Global Regulatory Systems
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Cell Signaling Feedback Loops
Negative feedback loops
Most signaling systems have negative feedback loops that can perform different functions such as output limiter, and adaptation.
Output limiter
Upon receiving an input signal, the cellular response rapidly increases until a threshold is reached. Beyond this threshold, a negative feedback loop...

