Modelling Bacterial Quorum Sensing and Effects of Nutrient Availability

Abstract

Many bacteria developed a possibility to recognise aspects of their environment or to communicate with each other by chemical signals. The so-called Quorum sensing (QS) is a special case for such a communication, a regulatory system for gene expression.Such an extracellular signalling via small diffusible compounds (called autoinducers) is known for an increasing number of bacterial species, including pathogens and beneficials. Briefly, bacteria release autoinducers and simultaneously regulate target gene expression dependent on the environmental autoinducer concentration. Regulated behaviour often induces critical life style switches, thus mechanistic understanding of autoinducer regulation and its ecological significance is of high relevance for the development of treatment strategies. Typical bacterial species using QS are Vibrio fischeri (a marine, luminescent bacterium) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (a pathogenic bacterium). ...