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ACS Chem. Biol.,
2 (11),
715–717
10.1021/cb700227k
Web Release Date: November 16, 2007
Copyright © 2007 American Chemical Society
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Learning the Language of Bacteria
James T. Hodgkinson†, Martin Welch‡, and David R. Spring†,*
†Department of Chemistry and, ‡Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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*Corresponding author, drspring#ch.cam.ac.uk.
Bacteria “talk” with each other by using small molecules that enable individuals in a population to coordinate their behavior. This language is termed quorum sensing. Bacterial pathogens may use this language to decide when to attack a host organism; therefore, the development of artificial signals to interfere with this signal process has become an area of intense chemical research.
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