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Physiological Advantage of Phenotypic Heterogeneity in a Quorum-Sensing Population

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Journal of the Indian Institute of Science Aims and scope

Abstract

Quorum sensing, or the ability of a population, to respond to an environmental cue in a coordinated manner has made fundamental changes about how we understand bacterial physiology. In this framework, a population, once it exceeds a certain threshold in size, and in the appropriate environmental conditions, coordinates expression of genes across individual members of the population in a fashion so that all individual members are in sync. This ability allows the population to accomplish tasks (like searching for nutrients in the surrounding environment) that would be difficult to perform, if undertaken by a single cell. In this context, quorum sensing is a homogenizing force in a population. However, in recent years, a number of studies have reported that quorum sensing can also lead to a heterogeneous response in terms of gene expression across the population. A discussion of the strategies which explain this heterogeneity in the population at a single-cell resolution is the focus of this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    E. Rajeshkannan & Supreet Saini

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  1. E. Rajeshkannan
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  2. Supreet Saini
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Correspondence to Supreet Saini.

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Rajeshkannan, E., Saini, S. Physiological Advantage of Phenotypic Heterogeneity in a Quorum-Sensing Population. J Indian Inst Sci 100, 485–496 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-020-00175-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-020-00175-4

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