Bacteria communicate with one another using small chemical molecules
that they release into the environment. These molecules travel from
cell to cell and the bacteria have receptors on their surfaces that
allow them to detect and respond to the build up of the molecules.
This process of cell-to-cell communication in bacteria is called
"Quorum Sensing" and it allows bacteria to synchronize behavior on a
population-wide scale. Bacterial behaviors controlled by quorum
sensing are usually ones that are unproductive when undertaken by an
individual bacterium acting alone but become effective when undertaken
in unison by the group. For example, quorum sensing controls
virulence, sporulation, and the exchange of DNA. Thus, quorum sensing
is a mechanism that allows bacteria to function as multi-cellular
organisms. Cell-to-cell communication in bacteria was likely one of
the first steps in the evolution of higher organisms. Current
biomedical research is focused on the development of novel
anti-bacterial therapies aimed at interfering with quorum sensing.
Such therapies could be used to control bacterial pathogenicity.
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