Quorum sensing in Serratia
After yesterday’s post about Serratia marcescens causing white pox disease in coral, I thought I’d even things up a bit by pointing at this interesting article in FEMS Microbiology Reviews describing how smart this bacterium is (Quorum sensing in Serratia. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 2007 31:407-424).
Serratia marcescens was discovered in 1819 causing a mysterious bloody discolouration in polenta, which prompted Bartolomeo Bizio, a pharmacist from Padua in Italy, to study this phenomenon. He identified a microorganism as the cause and named it Serratia in honour of the Italian physicist Serafino Serrati, and marcescens from the Latin word for decaying. This genus comprises Gram-negative rods 0.9–2 μm long and 0.5–0.8 μm in diameter, and is part of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Many bacteria use cell–cell communication to monitor their population density, synchronize their behaviour and socially interact. This communication results in a coordinated gene regulation and is generally called quorum sensing. In gram-negative bacteria, the most common quorum signal molecules are acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs), although other low-molecular-mass signalling molecules have been described such as Autoinducer-2 (AI-2). The phenotypes that are regulated in Serratia species by means of AHLs are remarkably diverse and of profound biological and ecological significance, and often interconnected with other global regulators.
Cell–to-cell communication is a significant aspect of the bacterial world and detailed knowledge of the communication pathways and their regulation are important in understanding the physiology of (mixed) bacterial populations, which is of the utmost importance from both an industrial and a medical perspective. Strategies to disrupt cell–to-cell communication may ultimately be able to help prevent or cure diseases.
Related:
- Quorum Sensing in Bacteria: We Two Are One
- White pox disease of coral
- Serratia swarming:
[...] Quorum sensing in Serratia [...]