quorum sensing

Scientific  

/ kwôr′əm /

1. A phenomenon in which a population of bacteria produces and responds to intercellular chemical signals whose concentration indicates the density of the population. When the density reaches a certain level, genes are expressed that allow for coordinated group behavior, as in bioluminescence or the formation of biofilms.

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Example Sentences

Such conditions, he hypothesizes, could foster superdense bacterial populations whose quorum sensing extends vertically as well as horizontally to adjacent colonies, magnifying the depth and breadth of the resulting milky sea.

From Scientific American

Other sleuths have since suggested that the steady glow results from “quorum sensing,” the ability of bacteria to communicate through chemical signaling.

From Scientific American

The glow of quorum sensing in bacteria may act as a different invitation: when a colony runs low on food in the open water, it may glow to encourage nearby fish to come and consume the bacteria, consequently sustaining the bacteria in their guts.

From Scientific American

This balance is sustained in part through cooperative chemical signaling among bacterial neighbors, a form of social communication called “quorum sensing” by microbiologists.

From Scientific American

Researchers are using this feature, known as quorum sensing, to control the behaviour of mixed populations of bacteria, to, for example, allow bacteria that compete with each other to co-exist and form a stable population.

From Nature