Quorum Sensing

A form of bacterial communication that allows bacteria to monitor and respond to changes in their environment in order to regulate a wide range of behaviors needed for pathogenesis. As bacteria accumulate and grow, they produce and sense chemicals around them. Once these bacteria, and thus chemicals, reach a certain density and concentration the bacteria sense and respond by coordinating group behaviors.

This is an example of a signaling cascade that Vibrio bacteria use. Many signals (some produced by the bacteria and others produced inside a host) all converge to regulate bacterial behaviors. Our therapeutics work to "silence" this communication.

This figure was created in https://BioRender.com and published in C. Simpson, B. Petersen, et al 2022.

(doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15602)