Bacterial communication: when does a metabolite become a signal?

Abstract

Bacterial communication has risen to prominence in microbiology as a dynamic research topic, both because of its role in microbial ecology and evolution and for the opportunity it offers to control pathogenic microbial activity. Bacterial communication has evolved from the metabolic processes of prokaryotic cellular life, in which the biosynthesis and breakdown of chemical compounds in central metabolism generates secondary metabolites with ambiguous utility in natural selection.