The hierarchical quorum consensus (HQC) algorithm, which is a generalization of the standard quorum consensus algorithm for managing replicated data, can reduce the quorum size to NO.‘j”. This paper analyzes the message complexity of HQC. Moreover, an asymptotic analysis on the ratio of the message complexity to the quorum size is presented. It is shown that the ratio converges to a constant.

Quorum sensing is widely recognized as an efficient mechanism to regulate expression of specific genes responsible for communal behavior in bacteria. Several bacterial phenotypes essential for the successful establishment of symbiotic, pathogenic, or commensal relationships with eukaryotic hosts, including motility, exopolysaccharide production, biofilm formation, and toxin production, are ofte...

Burkholderia thailandensis contains three acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing circuits and has two additional LuxR homologs. To identify B. thailandensis quorum sensing-controlled genes, we carried out transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses of quorum sensing mutants and their parent. The analyses were grounded in the fact that we identified genes coding for factors shown previously to b...

Quorum sensing helps bacteria to communicate with each other and in coordinating their behavior. Many diseases of human beings, plants, and animals are mediated by quorum sensing. Various approaches are being tried to inhibit this communication to control the diseases caused by bacteria. Periodontal pathogens also communicate through quorum sensing and new approaches to treat periodontal diseas...

Burkholderia thailandensis uses acyl-homoserine lactone-mediated quorum sensing systems to regulate hundreds of genes. Here we show that cell-cell contact-dependent type VI secretion (T6S) toxin-immunity systems are among those activated by quorum sensing in B. thailandensis. We also demonstrate that T6S is required to constrain proliferation of quorum sensing mutants in colony cocultures of a ...

Quorum sensing is a cell-cell communication process in which bacteria use the production and detection of extracellular chemicals called autoinducers to monitor cell population density. Quorum sensing allows bacteria to synchronize the gene expression of the group, and thus act in unison. Here, we review the mechanisms involved in quorum sensing with a focus on the Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio cho...

Quorum-based protocols can be formalized in terms of the data structures they use. These data structures, called quorum structures, include quorum sets, coteries, and bicoteries. Traditionally, weighted voting has been used to construct quorum structures. In order to obtain better performance, several researchers have proposed methods that impose a logical structure on the nodes. We have shown ...

A quorum system is a collection of subsets of servers, every two of which intersect. Quorum systems have been suggested as a tool for concurrency control in replicated databases almost twenty years ago. They promised to guarantee strict consistency and to provide high availability and fault-tolerance in the face of server crashes and network partitions. Despite these promises, current commercia...

Quorum sensing is a cell-cell communication mechanism that is involved in the regulation of biological functions such as luminescence, virulence, and biofilm formation. Quorum-quenching enzymes, which interrupt quorum-sensing signaling through degradation of quorum-sensing molecules, have emerged as a new approach to controlling and preventing bacterial virulence and pathogenesis. In an effort ...

Epidemic quorum systems enable highly available agreement even when a quorum is not simultaneously connected, making them suitable for weakly connected environments. Although recent work has proposed epidemic quorum algorithms, their availability and performance tradeoffs are not well studied. This paper formally defines generic epidemic quorum systems. The formalism unifies proposed epidemic q...