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Quorum Sensing: Autoinducer Threshold Switch

Interactive 3D simulation of bacterial quorum sensing: watch a population of cells accumulate diffusible autoinducer molecules and flip from individual to collective gene expression once a density-dependent concentration threshold is crossed, as in Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence.

Molecular Biology3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Bacteria don't just react to their own environment — colonies coordinate collective behaviour, including biofilm gene expression, using a chemical head-count called quorum sensing. Each cell continuously leaks a small diffusible autoinducer molecule; as the population grows and packs closer together, the pooled concentration rises until it crosses a receptor-binding threshold, and cells collectively flip into an induced state that secretes autoinducer even faster. This simulator renders that population-density switch in 3D, in the spirit of the LuxI/LuxR bioluminescence circuit of Vibrio fischeri: tune the cell density, the medium's dilution rate, the receptor threshold and the strength of the induced feedback, and watch a dim population of independent cells either stay dark forever or collectively ignite once true quorum is reached.

⚙ Under the hood

A 3D simulation of bacterial quorum sensing: cells secrete a diffusible autoinducer, and once the pooled concentration crosses a receptor threshold the population collectively switches into an induced, self-reinforcing gene-expression state, as in the LuxI/LuxR bioluminescence circuit of Vibrio fischeri.

quorum sensingautoinducerbacteriagene expressionbiofilmmicrobiology

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install