AUTHOR=Gallique Mathias , Bouteiller Mathilde , Merieau Annabelle 

TITLE=The Type VI Secretion System: A Dynamic System for Bacterial Communication?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01454

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.01454

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Numerous studies in Gram-negative bacteria have focused on the <underline>T</underline>ype <underline>VI</underline><underline>S</underline>ecretion <underline>S</underline>ystems (T6SSs), <underline>Q</underline>uorum <underline>S</underline>ensing (QS), and social behavior, such as in biofilms. These interconnected mechanisms are important for bacterial survival; T6SSs allow bacteria to battle other cells, QS is devoted to the perception of bacterial cell density, and biofilm formation is essentially controlled by QS. Here, we review data concerning T6SS dynamics and T6SS–QS cross-talk that suggest the existence of inter-bacterial communication via T6SSs.</p>