Murmuring Microbes: The Influence of Population Dependent Quorum Sensing Mechanisms on Commercial Brewing Yeast

In simplest terms, quorum sensing (QS) is a form of intercellular communication involving the creation, detection, and response to small hormone-like molecules called autoinducers (AIs). AIs accumulate proportionally in the extracellular matrix as the population density increases, and consequently, microorganisms utilise these signalling molecules to monitor population magnitude and as a means to collectively synchronise community-wide gene expression. In prokaryotes, QS-governed genes were previously demonstrated direct social behaviours that are beneficial when performed by larger groups acting in synchrony, such as bioluminescence, sporulation, antibiotic projection, and virulence factor secretion. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two QS aromatic alcohols were previously found to regulate the yeast-to-filament switching response under nitrogen starvation conditions. However, many of these previous investigations have been conducted mainly in laboratory strain ∑1278b. During this talk, we will review the fundamental principles of quorum sensing and discuss the influence of QS-molecule 2-phenolethanol on the yeast-to-filament transition and biomass growth in commercial strains of S. cerevisiae.