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Functionality of Autoinducer Systems in Complex Environments

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Book cover The Physical Basis of Bacterial Quorum Communication

Part of the book series: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering ((BIOMEDICAL))

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Abstract

Cell-to-cell signalling via small diffusible molecules, usually termed quorum sensing (QS), represents a common behaviour in bacteria. This signalling regulates life style switches in many, if not most symbiotic microbial species either beneficial or pathogenic for their eukaryotic hosts, but is also involved in controlling environmental processes such as biofouling, degradation processes in sewage plants or environmental pollutions and N cycling [1–4]. Biochemically, the core of a generic system comprises a cytoplasmatic signal synthase (or several involved enzymes), a small, diffusible signal which is released into the environment, and a signal receptor located in the cell membrane or in the cytoplasma. The signal-receptor complex directly or indirectly controls the expression of target genes (Fig. 5.1). The signal was termed autoinducer (AI), because the same cells produce and react on the signal molecules. For an overview of the various chemical realizations of AI systems see, e.g. Atkinson and Williams [5]. Originally, three main types of AI molecules have been described: (a) Mainly gram-negative proteobacteria, but also some cyanobacteria and archaebacteria employ molecules of the acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) group as AIs, (b) oligopeptide AIs occur in gram-positive bacteria, and (c) AI2 has been described as a universal signal for interspecies communication. Recently, a still increasing number of AIs belonging to various chemical classes have been discovered.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The book chapter partly bases on a recent journal article Hense and Schuster [77] (in preparation).

  2. 2.

    Here, we will use the term “quorum sensing” in its original restricted way, i.e. as a strategy to the control gene activity in dependency of cell density, although now a tendency exists to interpret it in a wider way, comprehending other influencing aspects like cell distribution and mass transfer properties. The wider concept we term more neutrally as “AI sensing”. We do this just for clarity of terming within this text.

    Note that the authors here which have been involved in the introduction of the ES concept, did not intend to add an additional quagmire or substitute the term “quorum sensing” by the term “efficiency sensing”, but to reshape thinking about what the ecological function of AIs might be. The term “quorum sensing” gained wide acceptance in the scientific community. Thus, to our opinion, it might be kept, but consistently be interpreted in a much broader sense than “cell density dependent gene regulation”. Unfortunately, due to the fact that phrasing often determines thinking, to our feeling still very often the function of AI regulation tends to be interpreted in the latter, narrow sense.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Martin Schuster for the fruitful discussion of our article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Computational Biology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg/Munich, Germany

    B. A. Hense & J. Müller

  2. Technical University München, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Boltzmannstr. 3, 85747, Garching, Germany

    C. Kuttler & J. Müller

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  1. B. A. Hense
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Correspondence to B. A. Hense .

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  1. Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Stephen J. Hagen

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Hense, B.A., Kuttler, C., Müller, J. (2015). Functionality of Autoinducer Systems in Complex Environments. In: Hagen, S. (eds) The Physical Basis of Bacterial Quorum Communication. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1402-9_5

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