ABSTRACT:
Quorum sensing (QS) is a bacterial signal system that controls the behaviour of groups based on population density with the help of autoinducer(s). The mechanism affects such processes as the formation of biofilms, production of virulence factors and the motility of microbes. Gram-negative bacteria make use of acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), and the Gram-positive bacteria make use of oligopeptides; both depend on interspecies communication through autoinducer-2 (AI-2). QS is crucial in the recycling of nutrients and control of pathogens but also in host contact hence one of the most important principles of microbial ecosystem stability. The recent progress in the studies of QS that bring together quantitative and mathematical modelling coarse-tune the bacterial communication pathways and give birth to medicine, agriculture, and environmental sciences. The QQ contains a new antimicrobial additive that interferes with the QS to limit the antibiotic-resistant infections and the growth of the biofilm. New applications are making crops healthier, improving wastewater treatment and evolving adaptive QS systems to personalized medicine and sustainable agriculture. The enhancement cannot be without issues, such as the environmental changes and adaptation of the microbes since the research is still needed. The QS and QQ study are still in the process of determining the potential solutions of regulating bacteria, antibiotic resistance, and the ecological sustainability.
Cite this article:
Mawj Saddam Zabn, Eman Saad Majeed. Quorum Sensing: The Hidden Language of Bacteria and its Transformative Applications. Asian Journal of Research in Chemistry. 2026; 19(1):31-7. doi: 10.52711/0974-4150.2026.00007
Cite(Electronic):
Mawj Saddam Zabn, Eman Saad Majeed. Quorum Sensing: The Hidden Language of Bacteria and its Transformative Applications. Asian Journal of Research in Chemistry. 2026; 19(1):31-7. doi: 10.52711/0974-4150.2026.00007 Available on: https://www.ajrconline.org/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2026-19-1-7
REFERENCES:
1. Miller MB, Bassler BL. Quorum sensing in bacteria. Annu Rev Microbiol. 2001; 55: 165–199. doi: 10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.165.
2. Ng WL, Bassler BL. Bacterial quorum-sensing network architectures. Annu Rev Genet. 2009; 43: 197–222. doi:10.1146/annurev-genet-102108-134304.
3. Fuqua C, Parsek MR, Greenberg EP. Regulation of gene expression by cell-to-cell communication: acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing. Annu Rev Genet. 2001; 35:439–68. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.090913.
4. Waters CM, Bassler BL. Quorum sensing: cell-to-cell communication in bacteria. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2005; 21:319–46. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cellbio.21.012704.131001.
5. Rutherford ST, Bassler BL. Bacterial quorum sensing: its role in virulence and possibilities for its control. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012;2(11): a012427. doi:10.1101/cshperspect. a012427.
6. Galloway WRJD, Hodgkinson JT, Bowden SD, Welch M, Spring DR. Quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria: small-molecule modulation of AHL and AI-2 quorum sensing pathways. Chem Rev. 2011; 111(1): 28–67. doi:10.1021/cr100109t.
7. Rickard AH, Palmer RJ Jr, Blehert DS, Campagna SR, Semmelhack MF, Egland PG, et al. Autoinducer 2: a concentration-dependent signal for mutualistic bacterial biofilm growth. Mol Microbiol. 2006;60(6):1446–56. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2006.05202. x.
8. Mukherjee S, Bassler BL. Bacterial quorum sensing in complex and dynamically changing environments. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019;17(6):371–82. doi:10.1038/s41579-019-0186-5.
9. Flemming HC, Wuertz S. Bacteria and archaea in biofilm ecosystems. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019;17(4):247–60. doi:10.1038/s41579-019-0158-9.
10. Venturi V, Fuqua C. Chemical signaling between plants and plant-pathogenic bacteria. Annu Rev Phytopathol. 2013; 51:17–37. doi:10.1146/annurev-phyto-082712-102239.
11. Fux CA, Costerton JW, Stewart PS, Stoodley P. Survival strategies of infectious biofilms. Trends Microbiol. 2005; 13(1):34–40. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2004.11.010.
12. Kalia VC, Kumar P, Kumar R. Evolutionary logic behind the emergence of quorum sensing inhibitors as virulence attenuators. Microb Biotechnol. 2021;14(1):36–50. doi:10.1111/1751-7915.13647.
13. Papenfort K, Bassler BL. Quorum sensing signal-response systems in Gram-negative bacteria. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016;14(9):576–88. doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.89.
14. Dawood A. Reasons for discontinuing the use of Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of the Novel Coronavirus. Asi J Pharm Ana. 2021; 11(2):179-0. doi: 10.52711/2231-5675.2021.00030.
15. Fetzner S. Quorum quenching enzymes and their potential application in infection control and industrial biotechnology. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2020;104(10):4691–4706. doi:10.1007/s00253-020-10572-9.
16. Bzdrenga J, Daudé D, Rémy B, Jacquet P, Plener L, Elias M, Chabrière E. Biotechnological applications of quorum quenching enzymes. Chem Biol Interact. 2017;267:104–15. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2016.05.028.Helman Y, Chernin L. Silencing the mob: disrupting quorum sensing as a means to fight plant disease. Mol Plant Pathol. 2015;16(3):316–329. doi:10.1111/mpp.12180.
17. Hosseinzadeh S, Shams-Bakhsh M, Sadeghizadeh M. Attenuation and quantitation of virulence gene expression in quorum-quenched Dickeya chrysanthemi. Arch Microbiol. 2017;199(1):51–61. doi:10.1007/s00203-016-1276-7.
18. Kusada H, Tamaki H, Kamagata Y, Hanada S, Kimura N. A novel quorum-quenching N-acylhomoserine lactone acylase from Acidovorax sp. strain MR-S7 mediates antibiotic resistance. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2017;83: e00080–17. doi:10.1128/AEM.00080-17.
19. Li Q, Mao S, Wang H, Ye X. The molecular architecture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing inhibitors. Mar Drugs. 2022;20(8):488. doi:10.3390/md20080488.
20. Dawood A, and Jasim B. The CRISPR Genome Editing Process is an Effective Advancement of Short-Term Cancer Treatment. Res J Pha Dos Fo Tech. 2021; 13(1): 54-56. doi: 10.5958/0975-4377.2021.00009.4.
21. López M, Mayer C, Fernández-García L, Blasco L, Muras A, Ruiz FM, Bou G, Otero A, Tomás M. Quorum sensing network in clinical strains of A. baumannii: AidA is a new quorum quenching enzyme. PLoS One. 2017;12(3):e0174454. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174454.
22. Mayer C, Muras A, Parga A, Romero M, Rumbo-Feal S, Poza M, et al. Quorum sensing as a target for controlling surface-associated motility and biofilm formation in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC® 17978. Front Microbiol. 2020; 11:565548. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.565548.
23. Mion S, Carriot N, Lopez J, Plener L, Ortalo-Magné A, Chabrière E, et al. Disrupting quorum sensing alters social interactions in Chromobacterium violaceum. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2021;7(1):40. doi:10.1038/s41522-021-00211-w.
24. Mion S, Rémy B, Plener L, Brégeon F, Chabrière E, Daudé D. Quorum quenching lactonase strengthens bacteriophage and antibiotic arsenal against Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates. Front Microbiol. 2019; 10:2049.
25. Murugayah SA, Gerth ML. Engineering quorum quenching enzymes: progress and perspectives. Biochem Soc Trans. 2019;47(3):793–800. doi:10.1042/BST20180165.
26. Noor NM, Defoirdt T, Alipiah N, Karim M, Daud H, Natrah I. Quorum sensing is required for full virulence of Vibrio campbellii towards tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) larvae. J Fish Dis. 2019;42(4):489–95. doi:10.1111/jfd.12946.
27. Dawood A. Using Remdesivir and Dexamethasone for Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Shortens the patient's stay in the Hospital. Asi J Pharm Res. 2021; 11(2):138-0. doi: 10.52711/2231-5691.2021.00026.
28. Rémy B, Plener L, Decloquement P, Armstrong N, Elias M, Daudé D, et al. Lactonase specificity is key to quorum quenching in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Front Microbiol. 2020; 11:762. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.00762.
29. Saipriya K, Swathi CH, Ratnakar KS, Sritharan V. Quorum-sensing system in Acinetobacter baumannii: a potential target for new drug development. J Appl Microbiol. 2020;128(1):15–27. doi:10.1111/jam.14330.
30. Sikdar R, Elias M. Quorum quenching enzymes and their effects on virulence, biofilm, and microbiomes: a review of recent advances. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2020;18(12):1221–33. doi:10.1080/14787210.2020.1794815.
31. Sharma S, Kumar S, Tripathi VN. Quorum sensing in Gram-negative pathogens: a fresh look. The Microbe. 2024; 4:100108. doi: 10.1016/j.microb.2024.100108.
32. Moreno-Gámez S, Hochberg ME, van Doorn GS. Quorum sensing as a mechanism to harness the wisdom of the crowds. Nat Commun. 2023; 14:3415. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37950-7.
33. Gonzales M, Kergaravat B, Jacquet P, Billot R, Grizard D, Chabrière E, et al. Disrupting quorum sensing as a strategy to inhibit bacterial virulence in human, animal, and plant pathogens. Pathogens Dis. 2024;82:ftae009. doi:10.1093/femspd/ftae009.