Advances in studies of quorum-sensing autoinducer and its inhibitors

Communication among bacteria with quorum-sensing system is accomplished through the exchange of signal molecules called autoinducers.When the densities of autoinducers rise to a certain degree,bacteria respond by specialized gene expression such as biofilm,bioluminescence,virulence and sporulation.Recently many quorum sensing inhibitors,which specifically interfere with the QS circuit,were discovered or synthesized. Detailed review regarding the autoinducer,inhibitors,significance and prospect of bacterial quorum-sensing system has been presented in this paper.