ArticleNature communications2017
Quorum sensing integrates environmental cues, cell density and cell history to control bacterial competence.
Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 151 citations in OpenAlex.
- Principles for Rigorous Design and Application of Synthetic Microbial Communities.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Pooled it
- A synopsis of competence-regulated virulence inVirulence · 2026Review
- Molecular Regulation of Virulence and Dental Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus mutans: Unravelling the Crosstalk Between the VicRK and LiaSR Two-Component Systems.Molecular oral microbiology · 2026Review
- A global stress alarmone couples nutrient limitation to suppression of social signaling in bacteria.iScience · 2026Article
- Quorum sensing in streptococci and its peptide-mediated modulation.Bioscience reports · 2026Review
- Article
- The Role of Quorum Sensing Mechanism in the Functional Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Cell density and single-cell heterogeneity reveal distinct competence induction dynamics in the high-GC Gram-positive Micrococcus luteus.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- The Quorum Sensing-Controlled Competence Regulon Drives HACS infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic analysis ofMicrobial genomics · 2025Article
- Multi-omics profiling reveals atypical sugar utilization and a key membrane composition regulator in Streptococcus pneumoniae.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- The Transformation Experiment of Frederick Griffith II: Inclusion of Cellular Heredity for the Creation of Novel Microorganisms.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- From single cells to communities: Mathematical perspectives on bacterial quorum sensing.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025Review
- Molecular mechanisms and applications of natural transformation in bacteria.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Probiotic potential and safety properties ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Competence Regulation inCurrent medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- The Effect of Bovine Trypsin on the Adhesion and pH of Dental Plaque Biofilms: An In Vitro Study.International dental journal · 2024Article
- Effect of Light Regime onJournal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2024Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae becomes competent for genetic transformation when exposed to an autoinducer peptide known as competence-stimulating peptide (CSP). This peptide was originally described as a quorum-sensing signal, enabling individual cells to regulate competence in response to population density. However, recent studies suggest that CSP may instead serve as a probe for sensing environmental cues, such as antibiotic stress or environmental diffusion. Here, we show that competence induction can be simultaneously influenced by cell density, external pH, antibiotic-induced stress, and cell history. Our experimental data is explained by a mathematical model where the environment and cell history modify the rate at which cells produce or sense CSP. Taken together, model and experiments indicate that autoinducer concentration can function as an indicator of cell density across environmental conditions, while also incorporating information on environmental factors or cell history, allowing cells to integrate cues such as antibiotic stress into their quorum-sensing response. This unifying perspective may apply to other debated quorum-sensing systems.Peptide CSP regulates natural competence in pneumococci and has been proposed as a quorum-sensing signal or a probe for sensing environmental cues. Here, the authors show that CSP levels can indeed act as an indicator of cell density and also incorporate information on environmental factors or cell history.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.