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T. J. MONTVILLE, Dept. of Food Science, Rutgers, The State Univ. of New Jersey, Cook College, 65 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520 There is increasing evidence that foodborne microbes "talk" to each other. They send out signals that are received and responded to by other members of the population. This talk reviews two types of cellular communication; "signal transduction" and "quorum sensing" and their implications for the food industry. Examples of auto-induction in bacteriocin production, regulation of virulence by signal transduction, and evidence for quorum sensing by spoilage organisms are presented. Recent Rutgers data indicate that bacillus spores and spores from Clostridium botulinum use the homoserine lactone quorum sensing system. This suggests that the long held food processing assumption of statistical independence is not always true. The presentation ends on a cautionary note; signals alone do not communication make. True communication only occurs when a signal is transmitted, received, and acted on.
Session 42, Control of quorum sensing signals and antimicrobial effects on foods
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |