Quorum Sensing and the Gut Microbiome

The GI tract is a complex environment heavily affected by both host and microbial processes. The microbiota plays essential functions in maintaining human health by providing the host with nutrients, promoting maturation of the immune system, and preventing enteric infections. These activities depend on effective communication from the host, the microbiota, and between them. This exchange of information among bacteria and between bacteria and the host is known as quorum sensing, interspecies and interkingdom signaling, respectively. This communication relies on host- and microbiota-produced chemicals that range from nutrients to signaling molecules. Insults that disturb the stability of these interactions by altering the structure of the microbiota or silencing this chemical communication have been implicated in various diseased states. In this article, we explore relevant classes of molecules produced or altered by the host, the microbiota, or enteric pathogens that cause transcriptional changes important for the colonization of the gut environment.