DSF-family quorum sensing signal-mediated intraspecies, interspecies, and inter-kingdom communication

While most bacteria are unicellular microbes they communicate with each other and with their environments to adapt their behaviors. Quorum sensing (QS) is one of the best-studied cell-cell communication modes. QS signaling is not restricted to bacterial cell-to-cell communication - it also allows communication between bacteria and their eukaryotic hosts. The diffusible signal factor (DSF) family represents an intriguing type of QS signal with multiple roles found in diverse Gram-negative bacteria. Over the last decade, extensive progress has been made in understanding DSF-mediated communication among bacteria, fungi, insects, plants, and zebrafish. This review provides an update on these new developments with the aim of building a more comprehensive picture of DSF-mediated intraspecies, interspecies, and inter-kingdom communication.Published versionThis work was financially supported by research grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31772121, No. 31972231, No. 32172355 to HYW), and the grant from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFA0717003 to YD)