Biomaterial Database

Crowd Controlled-Host Quorum Sensing Drives Phage Decision. 2019

Alexander Harms, and Médéric Diard

Focal Area of Infection Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: alexander.harms@unibas.ch.

In the January issue of Cell, Silpe and Bassler (2019) characterize a phage that looks beyond the boundaries of infected host cells by directly wiretapping their intercellular communication. This information influences the phage's decision of when to kill the host, likely in order to optimize the ecological prospects of phage progeny.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008242	Lysogeny	The phenomenon by which a temperate phage incorporates itself into the DNA of a bacterial host, establishing a kind of symbiotic relation between PROPHAGE and bacterium which results in the perpetuation of the prophage in all the descendants of the bacterium. Upon induction (VIRUS ACTIVATION) by various agents, such as ultraviolet radiation, the phage is released, which then becomes virulent and lyses the bacterium.	Integration, Prophage,Prophage Integration,Integrations, Prophage,Prophage Integrations
D001435	Bacteriophages	Viruses whose hosts are bacterial cells.	Phages,Bacteriophage,Phage
D017735	Virus Latency	The ability of a pathogenic virus to lie dormant within a cell (LATENT INFECTION). In eukaryotes, subsequent activation and viral replication is thought to be caused by extracellular stimulation of cellular transcription factors. Latency in bacteriophage is maintained by the expression of virally encoded repressors.	Viral Latency,Latencies, Viral,Latencies, Virus,Latency, Viral,Latency, Virus,Viral Latencies,Virus Latencies
D053038	Quorum Sensing	A phenomenon where microorganisms communicate and coordinate their behavior by the accumulation of signaling molecules. A reaction occurs when a substance accumulates to a sufficient concentration. This is most commonly seen in bacteria.	Quorum Quenching,Quenching, Quorum,Quenchings, Quorum,Quorum Quenchings,Sensing, Quorum