ABSTRACT
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) play distinct roles in foods. Besides being used for the manufacture of a huge variety of fermented products, LAB have a potential application in food preservation, due to capability to produce antimicrobial peptides (bacteriocins). Food fermentation and preservation processes in LAB may be regulated by a communication mechanism called quorum-sensing (QS), in a fashion that depends upon bacterial co-cultivation and bacterial succession. Bacterial cell-to-cell communication QS systems are based on the production, secretion and detection of small signaling molecules, known as autoinducers, whose concentrations correlate with the cell density of microorganisms that are secreting these molecules in the surroundings, regulating and synchronizing gene expression. This chapter discusses in detail the importance of QS communication in LAB and its relevance to food production and preservation.
