Think globally, act locally: how bacteria integrate local decisions with their global cellular programme

It has long been speculated that the bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP, a key molecular switch of bacterial community behaviour and persistence, can trigger specific cellular processes both on a global level as well as through some local action that prevents crosstalk originating from rapid diffusion of the signalling molecule. In this issue, Lindenberg et al (2013) report on a mechanism that not only helps to explain how spatial sequestration of c-di-GMP signalling components could be organized within bacterial cells, but also demonstrates how global and local command levels are interconnected. Introduction