AUTHOR=Liu Cong , Sun Di , Zhu Jingrong , Liu Weijie TITLE=Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems: A Major Strategy for Connecting Input Stimuli to Biofilm Formation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.03279 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.03279 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Biofilms are multicellular communities of microbes that are encased within an extracellular matrix. Environmental factors induce bacteria to form biofilm. Bacteria have several regulatory mechanisms in response to environmental changes, and the two-component signal transduction system (TCS) is a major strategy in connecting changes in input signals to changes in cellular physiological output. The TCS employs multiple mechanisms such as cross-regulation, to integrate and coordinate various input stimuli to control biofilm formation. In this mini-review, we demonstrate the roles of TCS on biofilm formation, illustrating these input signals and modulation modes, which may be utilized by future investigations in elucidating the regulatory signals and underlying the mechanisms of biofilm formation.