When only a few other bacteria of the same kind are in the vicinity, diffusion reduces the concentration of the inducer in the surrounding medium to almost zero, so the bacteria produce little inducer.
Cando só están na veciñanza unhas poucas bacterias do mesmo tipo, a difusión reduce a concentración do indutor no medio que as rodea a case cero, polo que a bacteria produce pouco indutor (para non desperdicialo).