Quorum Sensing in Bacterial Pathogenesis and Virulence

Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) is a widespread and highly conserved cell-to-cell communication that coordinates the social instincts of bacteria and also regulates the gene expression in an efficient manner. The QS phenomenon relies upon the production and detection of highly specific chemical signaling molecules popularly known as autoinducers. The diversity of autoinducer molecules produced by bacteria enables the bacteria to communicate within the species level as well as in between the genus level when present beyond a particular threshold level of autoinducer in the environment. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria specifically synthesize different kinds of autoinducers to control the expression of different genes. Pathogenic bacterial population exploit the high throughput signaling phenomenon to regulate genes for the process of invasion, defense and more importantly to generate virulence determinants such as toxins, enzymes and ultimately leads to the formation of biofilm. Biofilm formation has been well documented in most of the pathogenic bacteria utilizing the highly synchronized QS phenomena that will give the bacterial community an impinge to confer resistance against wide array of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs in an efficient manner thereby possess serious threat to immunocompromised individuals. The emergence of multi drug resistant pathogens and their ability to form biofilm, infers a current need for development of alternative therapeutic strategies towards the bacterial quorum sensing phenomenon.