Citation
Quorum sensing: cell-to-cell communication in bacteria
TL;DR
Quorum sensing is widespread across bacterial species and regulates diverse behaviors
This comprehensive review established the modern understanding of quorum sensing as a fundamental bacterial communication mechanism. Waters and Bassler synthesized decades of research to show how bacteria use chemical signaling to coordinate collective behaviors based on population density.
The paper is essential for understanding how distributed systems can achieve coordination without centralized control - a principle directly applicable to organizational design.
Key Findings from Waters & Bassler (2005)
- Quorum sensing is widespread across bacterial species and regulates diverse behaviors
- Autoinducer production and detection creates density-dependent coordination
- Positive feedback loops enable rapid, synchronized population-wide switching
- Quorum sensing regulates biofilm formation, virulence, and other collective behaviors