The role of bacterial outer membrane vesicles for intra‐ and interspecies delivery

Summary An increasing number of G ram‐negative bacteria have been observed to secrete outer membrane vesicles ( OMVs ). Many mysteries remain with respect to OMV formation, the regulation of OMV content and mode of targeting and fusion. Bacterial OMVs appear to serve a variety of purposes in intra‐ and interspecies microbial extracellular activities. OMVs have been shown to mediate cell‐to‐cell exchange of DNA , protein and small signalling molecules. The impact of such material exchanges on microbial communities and pathogenic processes, including the delivery of toxins at high concentration through OMVs , is discussed. This rather recent aspect of microbial ecology is likely to remain an important area of research as an in‐depth understanding of OMVs may allow new approaches for combating