quorum sensing

Term ID

GO:0009372

Synonyms

• cell-cell signaling involved in quorum sensing
• detection of cell density by secreted molecule
• quorum sensing system

Definition

The cell-cell signaling process in which single-celled organisms carry out coordinated responses by monitoring their own population density, and often also that of other microbes, by producing small, diffusible, signal molecules, detecting the concentration of these molecules, and triggering a signal transduction pathway when a certain threshold is reached. Quorum sensing can occur amongst microbial communities in the environment or within host organisms. (5)

References

• Wikipedia:Quorum_sensing

Ontology

GO: Biological Process    QuickGO    AmiGO