For many years bacteria were considered primarily as autonomous unicellular organisms with little capacity for collective behaviour. However, we now appreciate that bacterial cells are in fact, highly communicative. The generic term 'quorum sensing' has been adopted to describe the bacterial cell-to-cell communication mechanisms which co-ordinate gene expression usually, but not always, when th...

Quorum sensing is a type of cell to cell communication used to coordinate behavior in groups based on population density. We present a mathematical model of this phenomenon in bacterial biofilms, consisting of a nonlinear diffusion reaction system. The model includes production and spatial spreading of biomass, conversion of down-regulated biomass into up-regulated biomass as a consequence of t...

Bacteria communicate through small diffusible molecules in a process known as quorum sensing. Quorum-sensing inhibitors are compounds which interfere with this, providing a potential treatment for infections associated with bacterial biofilms. We present an individual-based computational model for a developing biofilm. Cells are aggregated into particles for computational efficiency, but the qu...

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that uses a quorum sensing signal cascade to activate expression of dozens of genes when sufficient population densities have been reached. Quorum sensing controls production of several key virulence factors, including secreted proteases such as elastase. Cooperating groups of bacteria growing on protein are susceptible to ...

Bacterial phenotypes, such as biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance and virulence expression, are associated with quorum sensing. Quorum sensing is a density-dependent regulatory system of gene expression controlled by specific signal molecules, such as N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), produced and released by bacteria. This study reports the development of linear polymers capable to atten...

Microorganisms group themselves into assemblies known as communities or biofilms, which are associated with surfaces. A matrix of self-segregated polymeric substances enhances their attachment. Communication between bacterial cells involves the production and detection of diffusible signal molecules, known as quorum sensing, which is an important regulatory mechanism of biofilm strategies. Biof...

Legume-nodulating bacteria (rhizobia) usually produce N-acyl homoserine lactones, which regulate the induction of gene expression in a quorum-sensing (or population-density)-dependent manner. There is significant diversity in the types of quorum-sensing regulatory systems that are present in different rhizobia and no two independent isolates worked on in detail have the same complement of quoru...

Bacteria communicate with each other by the use of signaling molecules, a process called 'quorum sensing'. One group of quorum sensing molecules includes the oligopeptides, which are mainly produced by Gram-positive bacteria. Recently, these quorum sensing peptides were found to biologically influence mammalian cells, promoting i.a. metastasis of cancer cells. Moreover, it was found that bacter...

Quorum sensing was once considered a way in which a species was able to sense its cell density and regulate gene expression accordingly. However, it is now becoming apparent that multiple microbes can sense particular quorum-sensing molecules, enabling them to sense and respond to other microbes in their neighbourhood. Such interactions are significant within the context of polymicrobial diseas...