Advance of the diversity of bacterial quorum sensing and quorum quenching

Abstract:

Quorum sensing (QS) is cell-density dependent cell-to-cell communication in bacteria. In this process, bacteria secrete and recognize the QS signals, and then coordinate the gene expressions in group level for gene transferring, virulence factor secretion, spore production, biofilm formation and so on. Interfering with any part of the process could block QS. Quorum quenching (QQ) is one of the important strategies for the control of pathogenicity, prevention of spoilage and inhibition of biofilm pollution. In this paper, according to the principal axis of secretion-recognition-response of quorum-sensing signals, bacterial QS network was divided into three types:hierarchical, parallel and competitive ones. Firstly, their characteristics were elaborated. Then, the strategies of QQ containing signal competition, signal degradation, and receptors/key proteins activation or inhibition as well as their applications were discussed. Finally, the advance for QS research was prospected. This review was beneficial to enrich the knowledge of bacteria QS and promote the application of QQ.