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Biologists discover bacteria communicate like neurons in the brain
October 21, 2015
University of California - San Diego

Summary:
Biologists have discovered that bacteria -- often viewed as lowly, solitary creatures -- are actually quite sophisticated in their social interactions and communicate with one another through similar electrical signaling mechanisms as neurons in the human brain.

"Our discovery not only changes the way we think about bacteria, but also how we think about our brain," said Gürol Süel, an associate professor of molecular biology at UC San Diego who headed the research project. "All of our senses, behavior and intelligence emerge from electrical communications among neurons in the brain mediated by ion channels. Now we find that bacteria use similar ion channels to communicate and resolve metabolic stress. Our discovery suggests that neurological disorders that are triggered by metabolic stress may have ancient bacterial origins, and could thus provide a new perspective on how to treat such conditions."

Ion channels enable electrical communication in bacterial communities
Arthur Prindle, Jintao Liu, Munehiro Asally, San Ly, Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo & Gürol M. Süel
Nature (2015) doi:10.1038/nature15709
Received 16 June 2015 Accepted 10 September 2015 Published online 21 October 2015

The study of bacterial ion channels has provided fundamental insights into the structural basis of neuronal signalling; however, the native role of ion channels in bacteria has remained elusive. Here we show that ion channels conduct long-range electrical signals within bacterial biofilm communities through spatially propagating waves of potassium. These waves result from a positive feedback loop, in which a metabolic trigger induces release of intracellular potassium, which in turn depolarizes neighbouring cells. Propagating through the biofilm, this wave of depolarization coordinates metabolic states among cells in the interior and periphery of the biofilm. Deletion of the potassium channel abolishes this response. As predicted by a mathematical model, we further show that spatial propagation can be hindered by specific genetic perturbations to potassium channel gating. Together, these results demonstrate a function for ion channels in bacterial biofilms, and provide a prokaryotic paradigm for active, long-range electrical signalling in cellular communities.

Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks. The find has stunning implications for medicine, industry — and our understanding of ourselves.

‘Eenzame’ bacteriën hebben een grotere kans om te muteren en ontwikkelen daardoor sneller resistentie dan bacteriën die zich in een grote groep bij elkaar bevinden. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van dr. Rok Krašovec en collega’s van de Universiteit van Manchester, vandaag gepubliceerd in Nature Communications. - See more at: https://www.medzineapp.com/nl/artikel/s ... vnK4R.dpuf

Their work centers on quorum sensing, a term coined by Greenberg to describe a process first shown in marine luminescent bacteria. The light of a single bacterium is invisible to the unaided eye, but when enough luminescent bacteria cooperatively secrete a chemical, they make a quorum and create a light that people can see, Greenberg said.