Microbial communication in saline environments: quorum sensing and the future of anaerobic wastewater treatment

Yuxin Pan; Xue Ting Wang; Yanxue Li; Wei Wang; Christian Sonne; Yen Wah Tong; Nanqi Ren; Yong Sik Ok

doi:10.1186/s12915-026-02651-2

Microbial communication in saline environments: quorum sensing and the future of anaerobic wastewater treatment

Yuxin Pan
, Xue Ting Wang^*
, Yanxue Li
, Wei Wang
, Christian Sonne
, Yen Wah Tong
, Nanqi Ren
, Yong Sik Ok^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Environment

Harbin Institute of Technology
School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology
Aarhus University
National University of Singapore
Korea University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater offers a sustainable and cost-effective approach to reducing environmental contamination while recovering biogas. High-salinity wastewater poses ecological risks and remains difficult to treat due to salt-induced sludge disintegration, volatile fatty acid accumulation, and reduced methane production. Quorum sensing is emerging as a key regulator of microbial activity and system stability under salt stress. This review summarizes salinity-stress inhibition mechanisms, evaluates quorum sensing-based mitigation strategies, and proposes a stage- and performance-based framework for quorum sensing application to advance resilient and efficient anaerobic treatment systems.

Original language	English
Article number	184
Journal	BMC Biology
Volume	24
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-026-02651-2
State	Published - Dec 2026

Keywords

Anaerobic biological treatment
Methane production
Functional microbiome reconstruction
High-salinity wastewater
Quorum sensing

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10.1186/s12915-026-02651-2

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title = "Microbial communication in saline environments: quorum sensing and the future of anaerobic wastewater treatment",

abstract = "Anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater offers a sustainable and cost-effective approach to reducing environmental contamination while recovering biogas. High-salinity wastewater poses ecological risks and remains difficult to treat due to salt-induced sludge disintegration, volatile fatty acid accumulation, and reduced methane production. Quorum sensing is emerging as a key regulator of microbial activity and system stability under salt stress. This review summarizes salinity-stress inhibition mechanisms, evaluates quorum sensing-based mitigation strategies, and proposes a stage- and performance-based framework for quorum sensing application to advance resilient and efficient anaerobic treatment systems.",

keywords = "Anaerobic biological treatment, Methane production, Functional microbiome reconstruction, High-salinity wastewater, Quorum sensing",

author = "Yuxin Pan and Wang, \{Xue Ting\} and Yanxue Li and Wei Wang and Christian Sonne and Tong, \{Yen Wah\} and Nanqi Ren and Ok, \{Yong Sik\}",

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T2 - quorum sensing and the future of anaerobic wastewater treatment

AU - Pan, Yuxin

AU - Wang, Xue Ting

AU - Li, Yanxue

AU - Wang, Wei

AU - Sonne, Christian

AU - Tong, Yen Wah

AU - Ren, Nanqi

AU - Ok, Yong Sik

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026.

PY - 2026/12

Y1 - 2026/12

N2 - Anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater offers a sustainable and cost-effective approach to reducing environmental contamination while recovering biogas. High-salinity wastewater poses ecological risks and remains difficult to treat due to salt-induced sludge disintegration, volatile fatty acid accumulation, and reduced methane production. Quorum sensing is emerging as a key regulator of microbial activity and system stability under salt stress. This review summarizes salinity-stress inhibition mechanisms, evaluates quorum sensing-based mitigation strategies, and proposes a stage- and performance-based framework for quorum sensing application to advance resilient and efficient anaerobic treatment systems.

AB - Anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater offers a sustainable and cost-effective approach to reducing environmental contamination while recovering biogas. High-salinity wastewater poses ecological risks and remains difficult to treat due to salt-induced sludge disintegration, volatile fatty acid accumulation, and reduced methane production. Quorum sensing is emerging as a key regulator of microbial activity and system stability under salt stress. This review summarizes salinity-stress inhibition mechanisms, evaluates quorum sensing-based mitigation strategies, and proposes a stage- and performance-based framework for quorum sensing application to advance resilient and efficient anaerobic treatment systems.

KW - Anaerobic biological treatment

KW - Methane production

KW - Functional microbiome reconstruction

KW - High-salinity wastewater

KW - Quorum sensing

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105047609426

U2 - 10.1186/s12915-026-02651-2

DO - 10.1186/s12915-026-02651-2

M3 - 文献综述

C2 - 42277753

AN - SCOPUS:105047609426

SN - 1741-7007

VL - 24

JO - BMC Biology

JF - BMC Biology

IS - 1

M1 - 184

ER -

Microbial communication in saline environments: quorum sensing and the future of anaerobic wastewater treatment

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Keywords

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