海洋微生物中的群体感应

Quorum Sensing in Marine Microorganisms

群体感应是一种微生物通过产生、释放和感知特定化学信号分子,并随之改变相关基因转录表达,从而在群体水平应对细胞密度和环境变化的行为活动。海洋微生物为了适应高压、高盐、低温、寡营养等极端环境往往表现出群体感应的现象。群体感应的存在提高了海洋微生物对外界营养物质的摄取,从而增强对外界不良环境的应对能力。另外,海洋微生物的群体感应系统也是导致海洋污损的重要原因,因此,目前研究群体感应淬灭对于防治污损具有重要作用。

Quorum sensing ( QS) enables primitive single-celled bacteria to communicate with chemical signals, in order to synchronize group-level collective bacterial behaviours in response to changes in the cell-population density and species composition of the surrounding microbial community. QS depends on the production, release, detection and response to signal moleculaes. Typically, marine microorganisms use QS to adapt to high pressure, high salt, low temperature, oligotrophic and other extreme environments. QS helps marine microorganisms uptake nutrients from the outside and thus enhances their survival ability to adverse environments. On the other hand, quorum sensing in marine microorganisms harmfully accelerates biofouling. Therefore, the QS quenching plays an important role in antifouling.