autoinducer
(noun)
any of several compounds, synthesized by bacteria, that have signalling functions in quorum sensing
Examples of autoinducer in the following topics:
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Signaling in Bacteria
- Quorum sensing uses autoinducers as signaling molecules.
- The peptide autoinducers stimulate more complicated signaling pathways that include bacterial kinases.
- The changes in bacteria following exposure to autoinducers can be quite extensive.
- The pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa has 616 different genes that respond to autoinducers.
- Autoinducers are small molecules or proteins produced by bacteria that regulate gene expression.
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Elemental Boron
- A known example of a boron-containing quorum sensing signaling molecule is Autoinducer-2 (AI-2).
- Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) is one of the few known biomolecules containing the element Boron.
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Quorum Sensing
- Common classes of signaling molecules are oligopeptides in Gram-positive bacteria, N-Acyl Homoserine Lactones (AHL) in Gram-negative bacteria, and a family of autoinducers known as autoinducer-2 (AI-2) in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
- Bacteria that use quorum sensing constitutively produce and secrete certain signaling molecules (called autoinducers or pheromones).