Quorum sensing going wild
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Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Time-lapse Imaging of Bacterial Swarms and the Collective Stress Response
Published on: May 23, 2020
Mihael Spacapan1, Cristina Bez1, Vittorio Venturi1
1International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Padriciano 99, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
Abstract:
The first discovered and well-characterized bacterial quorum sensing (QS) system belongs to Vibrio fischeri, which uses N-acyl homo-serine lactones (AHLs) for cell-cell signaling. AHL QS cell-cell communication is often regarded as a cell density-dependent regulatory switch. Since the discovery of QS, it has been known that AHL concentration (which correlates imperfectly with cell density) is not necessarily the only QS trigger. Additionally, not all cells respond to a QS signal. Bacteria could, via QS, exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, resulting in sub-populations with unique phenotypes. It is time to ascribe greater importance to QS-dependent phenotypic heterogeneity, and its potential purpose in natura, with emphasis on the division of labor, specialization, and "bet-hedging". We hope that this perspective article will stimulate the awareness that QS can be more than just a cell-density switch. This basic mechanism could result in "bacterial civilizations", thus forcing us to reconsider the way bacterial communities are envisioned in natura.
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