Engineering quorum sensing signaling of Pseudomonas for enhanced wastewater treatment and electricity harvest: A review

• Quorum sensing (QS) systems are widespread in wastewater treatment processes.
• QS regulation on waste treatment and electricity harvest were reviewed.
• QS manipulation to improve waste treatment and energy harvest were summarized.

Cell–cell communication that enables synchronized population behaviors in microbial communities dictates various biological processes. It is of great interest to unveil the underlying mechanisms of fine-tuning cell–cell communication to achieve environmental and energy applications. Pseudomonas is a ubiquitous microbe in environments that had wide applications in bioremediation and bioenergy generation. The quorum sensing (QS, a generic cell-cell communication mechanism) systems of Pseudomonas underlie the aromatics biodegradation, denitrification and electricity harvest. Here, we reviewed the recent progresses of the genetic strategies in engineering QS circuits to improve efficiency of wastewater treatment and the performance of microbial fuel cells.