Quorum sensing: fact, fiction, and everything in between.

Els ts Jers II. In troduction 193 III. T he Basics of Microbial Linguistics 193 A . A utoinducers: The language of prokaryotic communication 193 B. A utoinducers with antimicrobial activity 195 C . M ultiple quorum-sensing systems: Integrating the sensory information 198 D . T he ‘‘Environment Sensing’’ theory: So much for social engagements of bacteria! 200 IV. L ost in Translation 202 A . A I-2: The most talked about molecule in the field 202 B. T he early years of research: AI-2 goes interspecies 203 C . T he pivotal case of EHEC 204 D . T he role of luxS in cell physiology: Activated methyl cycle 209 E. ls r operon: The missing link. . . is still missing 212 F. M ultilingual bacteria: Another look at the role of interspecies communication in V. harveyi 215 G . T he recent years: Research involving synthetic AI-2 216