Bacteria Can Communicate With Each Other Through Nanotubes, Researchers Discover
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2011) — A pathway whereby bacteria communicate with each other has been discovered by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The discovery has important implications for efforts to cope with the spread of harmful bacteria in the body.
Prof. Sigal Ben-Yehuda. (Credit: Image courtesy of Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Bacteria are known to communicate in nature primarily via the secretion and receipt of extracellular signaling molecules, said Prof. Sigal Ben-Yehuda of the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC) at the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, head of the research team on the phenomenon, whose work is currently reported in the journal Cell. This communication enables bacteria to execute sophisticated tasks such as dealing with antibiotic production and secretion of virulence factors.
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Intercellular Nanotubes Mediate Bacterial Communication
Cell, Volume 144, Issue 4, 590-600, 18 February 2011
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
10.1016/j.cell.2011.01.015
Authors
Gyanendra P. Dubey,Sigal Ben-Yehuda
See Affiliations
Highlights
Intercellular nanotubes bridge neighboring bacterial cells
Cytoplasmic molecules are exchanged between neighbors via nanotubes
Cells acquire new hereditary and nonhereditary features by molecular exchange
Nanotubes provide a network for molecular exchange within and between species
Summary
Bacteria are known to communicate primarily via secreted extracellular factors. Here we identify a previously uncharacterized type of bacterial communication mediated by nanotubes that bridge neighboring cells. Using Bacillus subtilis as a model organism, we visualized transfer of cytoplasmic fluorescent molecules between adjacent cells. Additionally, by coculturing strains harboring different antibiotic resistance genes, we demonstrated that molecular exchange enables cells to transiently acquire nonhereditary resistance. Furthermore, nonconjugative plasmids could be transferred from one cell to another, thereby conferring hereditary features to recipient cells. Electron microscopy revealed the existence of variously sized tubular extensions bridging neighboring cells, serving as a route for exchange of intracellular molecules. These nanotubes also formed in an interspecies manner, between B. subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and even between B. subtilis and the evolutionary distant bacterium Escherichia coli. We propose that nanotubes represent a major form of bacterial communication in nature, providing a network for exchange of cellular molecules within and between species.
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