Microbial interactions are increasingly recognized as an integral part of microbial physiology. Cell–cell communication mediated by quorum sensing and metabolite exchange is a formative element of microbial interactions. However, loss-of-function mutations in quorum-sensing components are common across diverse species. Furthermore, quorum sensing is modulated by small molecules and environmental conditions that may be altered in the presence of other microbial species. Recent evidence highlights how strain heterogeneity impacts microbial interactions. There is great potential for microbial interactions to act as selective pressures that influence the emergence of common mutations in quorum-sensing genes across the bacterial and fungal domains.

微生物相互作用越来越被认为是微生物生理学的一个组成部分。由群体感应和代谢物交换介导的细胞间通讯是微生物相互作用的形成要素。然而，群体感应成分的功能丧失突变在不同物种中很常见。此外，群体感应受到小分子和环境条件的调节，这些条件可能会在其他微生物物种存在的情况下发生改变。最近的证据强调了菌株异质性如何影响微生物相互作用。微生物相互作用有很大的潜力作为选择压力，影响细菌和真菌域中群体感应基因中常见突变的出现。