The majority of bacteria live and evolve in surface biofilms. Both growth in biofilms and horizontal transfer of DNA are regulated by quorum-sensing pheromone signals. The common regulation of bacterial surface growth and DNA transfers illustrates how physiology contributes to bacterial evolution.
Keywords: biofilms; competence; conjugal DNA transfer; quorum sensing; transduction; transformation; type IV secretion system.
© 2023 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society.