Bacterial moving and shaking: the 11th blast meeting.

Since their inception 20 years ago, the biennial blast (Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction) meetings instantly became the place to be for exchanging and sharing the latest developments in the field of bacterial motility and signalling. At the 11th edition, held last January in New Orleans, LA, researchers reported on the myriad of mechanisms involved in bacterial movement, sensing and adaptation, ranging from the molecular level to multicellular behaviour. New insights into bacterial signalling phenomena were gained, revealing previously unsuspected layers of complexity, particularly in mechanisms ensuring signal transduction fidelity and novel links to metabolic processes.