Summary: Pathogenic bacteria use quorum sensing to launch a simultaneous attack when in sufficient numbers. Bacteria possess at least two systems of quorum sensing. They sense their own species' numbers by monitoring their species-specific quorum sensing signal. Bacteria also sense a signal that is shared between different species to obtain information about the bacterial community. Manipulating quorum sensing is a promising approach for developing new antibiotics against pathogens, or probiotics for industrial applications.
