Foreword
Since the term “Quorum Sensing” was coined in 1994, the number of papers on the topic
has steadily risen. This continual interest over the last quarter century is a testament to the
fascination of bacterial communication and the promising scientific advances it represents.
For many researchers, understanding bacterial communication represents the promise of
new treatment modalities for infections. For others, untangling complex networks of
quorum sensing regulatory systems is a tantalizing puzzle to solve. And still other groups
of researchers hope to apply their knowledge of bacterial communication to address impor-
tant environmental issues such as bioremediation and sustainability.
Quorum sensing researchers are a broad and multidisciplinary group of scientists. Thus
the field itself has traditionally intersected and combined microbiology, engineering, math,
medicine, and molecular biology. As we approach the 25th year of formal Quorum Sensing
research, disciplines such as evolution and ecology are also emerging as areas ripe for
advancing our understanding. Many researchers are now focusing on the complexities of
bacterial communication in the context of heterogeneous populations and spatially
structured communities. The methods needed to accomplish these studies are of course
also consistently changing and evolving; thus practical guidelines for experimental methods
are needed.
Seven years ago I had the privilege of compiling the expertise of some of the foremost
Quorum Sensing researchers in the world into a volume of experimental methods. In this
new version ofQuorum Sensing: Methods and Protocols, editors Livia Leoni and Giordano
Rampioni have done an excellent job of incorporating a broad range of topics that include
traditional techniques and new, cutting-edge approaches. Many of the essential techniques,
such as autoinducer detection by mass spectrometry and biosensors, are revisited and
updated and new approaches, such as rapid electrochemical detection, are presented for
the first time.
I am also delighted that this edition includes many of the pioneering researchers who
contributed to the first volume and continue to make substantial contributions to the field,
as well as new investigators who are beginning to make their mark and transform the field of
Quorum Sensing. Undoubtedly, the information compiled here will continue to provide
excellent instruction to an ever expanding and diverse group of scientists who are all joined
in their curiosity and passion to better understand this ancient mode of cell-to-cell signaling
used by our microbial relatives.
Lubbock, TX, USA Kendra P. Rumbaugh
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