Bacterial Small-Molecule Signaling Pathways This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. clicking here.colleagues, clients, or customers by , you can order high-quality copies for yourIf you wish to distribute this article to others here.follo

Bacteria use diverse small molecules for extra- and intracellular signaling. They scan small-molecule mixtures to access information about both their extracellular environment and their intracellular physiological status, and based on this information, they continuously interpret their circumstances and react rapidly to changes. Bacteria must integrate extra- and intracellular signaling information to mount appropriate responses to changes in their environment. We review recent research into two fundamental bacterial small-molecule signaling pathways: extracellular quorum-sensing signaling and intracellular cyclic dinucleotide signaling. We suggest how these two pathways may converge to control complex processes including multicellularity, biofilm formation, and virulence. We also outline new questions that have arisen from recent studies in these fields. O ne major role of bacterial extracellular small-molecule signaling is in cell-cell communication (quorum sensing), which involves the production, release, and community-wide detection of molecules calle