Bacterial communication and group behavior.
The existence of species-specific and interspecies bacterial cell-cell communication and group organization was only recently accepted. Researchers are now realizing that the ability of these microbial teams to communicate and form structures, known as biofilms, at key times during the establishment of infection significantly increases their ability to evade both host defenses and antibiotics. This Perspective series discusses the known signaling mechanisms, the roles they play in both chronic Gram-positive and Gram-negative infections, and promising therapeutic avenues of investigation.
Department of Microbiology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. Everett-greenberg@uiowa.edu
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D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D018441:Biofilms; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000502:physiology; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000502:physiology; D014774:Virulence