The opportunistic pathogen "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" uses quorum sensing to coordinate the formation of biofilm, swarming motility, exopolysaccharide production, virulence, and cell aggregation. These bacteria can grow within a host without harming it until they reach a threshold concentration. Then they become aggressive, developing to the point at which their numbers are sufficient to overcome the host's immune system, and form a biofilm, leading to disease within the host as the biofilm is a protective layer encasing the bacterial population. Another form of gene regulation that allows the bacteria to rapidly adapt to surrounding changes is through environmental signaling. Recent studies have discovered that anaerobiosis can significantly impact the major regulatory circuit of quorum sensing. This important link between quorum sensing and anaerobiosis has a significant impact on the production of virulence factors of this organism. It is hoped that the therapeutic enzymatic degradation of the signaling molecules will prevent the formation of such biofilms and possibly weaken established biofilms. Disrupting the signaling process in this way is called "quorum sensing inhibition".