Research progress of microbial quorum sensing systems

Quorum sensing, which is a cell-cell communication system, is one of the major discoveries in the field of microbiology in recent years. Beginning from the observation of an auto-inducing phenomenon that depends on bacterial population density, it has now been widely accepted that quorum sensing is an important cell-cell communication system existed widely in the microbial community. The track of quorum sensing research has encompassed accidental discovery, range expansion, concept development and transformation of basic research findings to practical applications. Demonstration of the ubiquitous presence of quorum sensing systems in the microbial community has not only provided a new entry point for understanding the regulation mechanisms that govern microbial virulence, and for exploring microbial ecological competition and dynamic balance mechanisms, but also established a solid foundation for regulating microbial ecosystems and developing new disease control strategies. This paper presents a review of some important and representative findings in the area of quorum sensing research, and discusses its future prospects.