The cascade regulation of small RNA and quorum sensing system: Focusing on biofilm formation of foodborne pathogens in food industry

Biofilms containing foodborne pathogens can adhere to food ingredients or food processing equipment. Due to their enhanced resilience to cleaning and chance of cross-contamination, there is an increased risk of food poisoning to consumers. The life course of biofilms is generally thought to be regulated by a quorum sensing (QS) system by secreted autoinducing peptides (AIPs). Recent studies have revealed that small non-coding RNA (sRNA) also plays an important role in regulating biofilm formation at the post-transcriptional level. Moreover, sRNA can act as an intermediate regulating hub between the quorum sensing system and biofilm. This review summarizes the latest findings on sRNA in biofilms of common foodborne pathogens and their potential impact. We also highlight the different mechanism of cascade regulation of sRNA and QS system in biofilm formation in several typical foodborne pathogens. In this process, sRNA responds to dynamic external environmental signals finely and accurately, and can feedback information on the bacterial cell environment to modify the QS system. These findings will deepen our understanding of biofilm formation and provide new perspectives for eliminating biofilm of foodborne pathogens based on the cascade regulation of small RNA and QS for developing biofilm-free food-processing systems.