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Bacterial Signaling

Bacterial Signaling

Bacterial signaling can occur within bacteria (intracellular) or between bacteria (intercellular). At times, a group of bacteria behaves like a community. To achieve this, they engage in quorum sensing, the perception of higher cell density that causes changes in gene expression. Quorum sensing involves both extracellular and intracellular signaling. The signaling cascade starts with a molecule called an autoinducer (AI). Individual bacteria produce AIs that move out of the bacterial cell...

Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing

Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing

Quorum sensing is a mechanism of bacterial communication that enables coordinated gene expression in response to changes in population density. This facilitates collective behaviors that enhance survival, resource acquisition, and ecological adaptation. This process relies on small signaling molecules called autoinducers that accumulate as bacterial populations grow. When a critical threshold concentration of autoinducers is reached, bacterial cells collectively modify gene expression,...

Yeast Signaling

Yeast Signaling

Yeasts are single-celled organisms, but unlike bacteria, they are eukaryotes (cells with a nucleus). Cell signaling in yeast is similar to signaling in other eukaryotic cells. A ligand, such as a protein or a small molecule released from a yeast cell, attaches to a receptor on the cell surface. The binding stimulates second-messenger kinases to activate or inactivate transcription factors that further regulate gene expression. Many of the yeast intracellular signaling cascades have similar...

Overview of Cell Signaling

Overview of Cell Signaling

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...

Global Regulatory Systems

Global Regulatory Systems

Global regulatory systems in bacteria enable rapid and coordinated responses to environmental changes by integrating sensory inputs with gene expression, ensuring efficient adaptation to fluctuating conditions. Key global regulatory mechanisms include regulons, two-component systems, sigma factors, and secondary messengers.Regulons and Global RegulatorsA regulon is a collection of genes and operons controlled by a common global regulator. These regulators enable bacteria to prioritize resource...

What is Cell Signaling?

What is Cell Signaling?

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 12, 2025

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

Signaling in microbial communities with open boundaries.

James J Winkle¹, Soutick Saha², Joseph Essman³

¹Department of Mathematics, University of Houston.

Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology

|January 30, 2023

Summary

Mathematical modeling reveals how boundary flows and microbial community geometry influence cell-cell signaling. Signaling lengthscale can depend on geometry alone, challenging traditional diffusion-based assumptions.

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Last Updated: Aug 12, 2025

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

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Published on: October 29, 2016

Characterizing Microbiome Dynamics – Flow Cytometry Based Workflows from Pure Cultures to Natural Communities

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Published on: July 12, 2018

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform

Published on: June 6, 2017

Area of Science:

Microbiology
Mathematical Biology
Biophysics

Background:

Microbial communities like biofilms form at interfaces of solid substrates and fluid flows.
Microfluidic devices are common for studying these communities, featuring open boundaries and media flows.
Extracellular signaling in these open systems differs from closed systems and is understudied.

Conclusions:

Boundary dynamics and environmental geometry are critical factors in modeling microbial cell-cell signaling.
The study offers new perspectives on signaling in natural and synthetic microbial systems.
Experimental predictions are made for future verification.