Quorum Sensing Across Domains: From Viruses to Bacteria to Eukaryotes
to
Bonnie L. Bassler, Ph.D.
Andrew K. Golden University Professor of Molecular Biology; Investigator.
Princeton University; HHMI
Bonnie L. Bassler, Ph.D., is the Andrew K. Golden University Professor at Princeton University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. A pioneering molecular biologist, her research has transformed understanding of quorum sensing, the chemical communication system bacteria use to coordinate collective behaviors. Her discoveries revealed how bacteria communicate within and across species and how these signaling networks regulate virulence, biofilm formation, and microbial interactions. Dr. Bassler’s work has also inspired new antimicrobial strategies that disrupt bacterial communication rather than growth. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, she is widely recognized for advancing microbiology and human health.
Summary
Bacteria communicate with one another via the production and detection of secreted signal
molecules called autoinducers. This process, called “Quorum Sensing”, allows bacteria to
synchronize behavior on a population-wide scale. Behaviors controlled by quorum sensing 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 factor production and biofilm formation. Eukaryotes harboring quorum-sensing bacteria participate in these chemical conversations by providing the substrates bacteria need to make autoinducers. Quorum-sensing autoinducer information can be hijacked by viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Thus, interactions across the eukaryotic, bacterial, and viral domains all rely on quorum sensing. Quorum-sensing disruption strategies are being developed into new anti-microbials and phage therapies.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn that bacteria communicate with chemical signal molecules in a process called
quorum sensing. Quorum sensing enables bacteria to synchronize behavior on a
population-wide scale. Behaviors controlled by quorum sensing are ones that are
unproductive when undertaken by an individual bacterium acting alone but become
effective when undertaken in unison by the group. - Learn that viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotes all participate in quorum-sensing-mediated
communication. Presumably, each entity in these combined beneficial and parasitic
partnerships garners quorum-sensing information that enhances its survival and
reproduction.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, August 26, 2026