Quorum Sensing in Marine Microbial Environments.
Quorum sensing (QS) is a form of chemical communication used by certain bacteria that regulates a wide range of biogeochemically important bacterial behaviors. Although QS was first observed in a marine bacterium nearly four decades ago, only in the past decade has there been a rise in interest in the role that QS plays in the ocean. It has become clear that QS, regulated by signals such as acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) or furanosyl-borate diesters [autoinducer-2 (AI-2) molecules], is involved in important processes within the marine carbon cycle, in the health of coral reef ecosystems, and in trophic interactions between a range of eukaryotes and their bacterial associates. The most well-studied QS systems in the ocean occur in surface-attached (biofilm) communities and rely on AHL signaling. AHL-QS is highly sensitive to the chemical and biological makeup of the environment and may respond to anthropogenic change, including ocean acidification and rising sea surface temperatures.
School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195; email: lhmelo@uw.edu.
Laura R
LR
Hmelo
D001419:Bacteria; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018441:Biofilms; D057894:Coral Reefs; D017753:Ecosystem; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D007783:Lactones; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D053038:Quorum Sensing; D014871:Water Microbiology
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007783:Lactones
biofilm; marine bacteria; marine environment; quorum quenching; quorum sensing