Biofilms, Quorum Sensing and Crosstalk in Medically Important Microbes

摘要: Biofilms are heterogeneous communities of microorganisms firmly attached to a biological or abiotic surface. They the causative agents chronic infection in over 25 different diseases and microbes that comprise biofilms typically highly tolerant antimicrobials. Biofilm formation is coordinated process relies heavily on cell-density-dependent form microbial communication called ‘quorum sensing’ (QS). QS facilitated by production small-molecule signals induce shifts gene expression metabolic activity organisms residing around biofilms. Quorum can elicit specific responses wide range both prokaryotic eukaryotic cells, this ‘crosstalk’ ‘interkingdom signalling, (IKS) travels directions, as some mammalian hormones directly enhance bacterial virulence. Since controls pathogenic processes so many medically important microbes, it holds significant promise future target for therapeutics.