Novel bacterial 'language' discovered Sign In Register

Send Feedback

Nanotechnology
Home Chemistry

Physics

Space & Earth

Electronics

Technology

Chemistry

Biology

Medicine & Health

Other Sciences

Biochemistry

July 15, 2013

Novel bacterial 'language' discovered

Jul 15, 2013

Ads by Google

The micrograph shows the bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens. The cells labeled in red produce the aggregation factor. Credit: Ralf Heermann, LMU

(Phys.org) LMU researchers have identified a yet unknown bacterial cell-cell communication system. In nature, bacteria are no mavericks but live in close association with neighboring bacteria. They have evolved specific cell-cell communication systems that allow them to detect the presence of others and even to build up cooperative networks. LMU microbiologist PD Dr. Ralf Heermann and Professor Helge Bode of the Goethe-University in Frankfurt have just reported the discovery of a previously unknown bacterial "language". Their findings are detailed in the latest issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology. "Our results demonstrate that bacterial communication is much more complex than has been assumed to date," Heermann says. The bacterial communication system that is currently best understood uses Nacylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) as signals. These compounds are made by enzymes that belong to the group of LuxI-family synthases. Transmitting cells secrete the signal and neighboring cells recognize the concentration via a LuxR-type receptor. Signal perception changes the pattern of gene expression in the receiving cells, which results in alterations in their functional properties or behavior. However, many bacteria have LuxR receptors but lack any LuxI homolog, so that they cannot produce AHLs. These receptors are referred to as LuxR solos. A new class of bacterial signaling molecules Ralf Heermann and Helge Bode have now discovered a type of ligand that binds to LuxR solos. As model system, they chose the species Photorhabdus luminescens, a pathogenic bacterium that is lethal to insects.

Featured

Popular

Most shared

Scientists solve a 14,000-year-old ocean mystery Jul 14, 2013 2

Computer smart as a 4-year-old

Jul 15, 2013 15

Hubble finds new Neptune moon

Jul 15, 2013 8

Novel bacterial 'language' discovered Jul 15, 2013

A new form of carbon: Grossly warped 'nanographene' Jul 15,

2013 2

+40,226

Phys.org on facebook
94,575 people like this. Sign Up to see what

http://phys.org/news/2013-07-bacterial-language.html#ajTabs[7/17/2013 1:47:25 AM]

Novel bacterial 'language' discovered

Like

your friends like.

Bacteria communicate by means of chemical processes. LMU microbiologist PD Dr. Ralf Heermann and Professor Helge Bode of the Goethe-University Frankfurt have identified a novel bacterial cell-cell communication system that uses alpha-pyrones more

Relevant PhysicsForums posts

"We have identified a new class of bacterial signaling molecules, which are produced by a previously unknown biochemical route," explains Helge Bode, Merck Professor of Molecular Biotechnology at Goethe-Universitt Frankfurt. It turns out that a LuxR solo of this bacterium responds to compounds called alpha-pyrones, specifically to photopyrones. Furthermore, the researchers have identified the pyrone synthase (PpyS) that catalyzes the biosynthesis of photopyrones. The pyrone-based signaling system allows the bacteria to recognize one another, whereupon they produce a surface factor that causes cell clumping. Heermann and Bode assume that this collective behavior makes the cells less vulnerable to the insect's innate immune system, and then allows them to kill their victims by the production of various of toxins." P. luminescens is a useful model organism, because it is related to many human pathogens, including coliform bacteria such as enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and well as plague bacteria," Heermann points out.
Ads by Google

Calculate needed vacuum help identify this chemical?

3 hours ago 16 hours ago

Electrons when their spin changes for hybridization? Jul 15, 2013 Heat of solution and vapor pressure
Jul 14, 2013

why does hydrogen is taken specially in intermolecular forces? Jul 13, 2013 why does the melting point of graphite is higher than diamond? Jul 13, 2013 More from Physics Forums - Chemistry

Methanogenic Bacteria - identification and quantification as a service or detection kit! - vermicon.com/Methanbakterien

The new findings are also of more general interest because communication systems of bacterial pathogens offer promising targets for antimicrobial drugs. Thus, agents that interfere with bacterial "small talk" could inhibit the production of toxins or prevent the formation of biofilms. Since those drugs would only prevent the expression of pathogenic traits, rather than killing bacteria as antibiotics do, the danger of drug resistances would be enormously diminished. Explore further: Bacteria communicate to help each other resist antibiotics More information: dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1295 Journal reference: Nature Chemical Biology Provided by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

4.9 /5 (21 votes)

580
Like

164
1

reddit

Ads by Google

http://phys.org/news/2013-07-bacterial-language.html#ajTabs[7/17/2013 1:47:25 AM]

Novel bacterial 'language' discovered

Related Stories

Recommended for you

Jul

Bacteria communicate to help each other resist antibiotics

03, 2013 New research from Western University unravels a novel means of communication that allows bacteria such as Burkholderia cenocepacia (B. cenocepacia) to resist antibiotic treatment. B. cenocepacia is an environmental bacter ...

Biochemists uphold law of physics (w/ Video)

Jul 15, 2013 Experiments by biochemists at the University of California, Davis show for the first time that a law of physics, the ergodic theorem, can be demonstrated by a collection of individual protein moleculesspecifically, a protein ...

A roundabout route to protein production Signaling receptor may provide a target for reducing virulence without antibiotics Nov 21, 2012
For decades, microbiologists thought that bacteria act individually, unaware of their multitudinous counterparts involved in causing the same infection. In the past two decades, however, they have discovered ...

Jul 12,

2013 Proteins are typically encoded by linear strands of messenger RNA (mRNA). These mRNA molecules are translated into polypeptide chains by ribosomes, with each ribosomal read-through of the mRNA generating ...

Bacteria interrupted: Disabling coordinated behavior and virulence gene expression Apr 21, 2011
New research reveals a strategy for disrupting the ability of bacteria to communicate and coordinate the expression of virulence factors. The study, published by Cell Press in the A il 22 d i f th j lM l l C

Molecular discovery puts cancer treatment in a new perspective Jul 11, 2013
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the National Institutes of Health have obtained ground-breaking new knowledge about proteases - important enzymes which, among other things, play a role in the development ...

1 comment

0 0

Adjust slider to filter visible comments by rank

Display comments: newest first JVK

not rated yet Jul 15, 2013

The added systems complexity reported here simply suggests that we've had much more to learn about quorum-sensing than most people realized. The journalistic inference, however, defies the logic of what IS known about Nutrient-dependent / pheromonecontrolled adaptive evolution in species from microbes to man. See for example: http://figshare.c...n/155672 It seems likely that we could use the species-specific pheromones to control infections, whether or not we learn more about ALL the molecular mechanisms that enable pheromone-controlled reproduction. Isn't Bonnie Bassler's group already working on that?

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Sign In Sign in

Click here to reset your password. Sign in to be notified via email when new comments are made.

More news stories

Using pressure to swell pores, not crush them
More than a decade ago, Thomas Vogt and Yongjae Lee, then colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory, uncovered a counterintuitive property of zeolites. When they put these porous minerals in

Cancer survivors have more frequent and severe menopausal hot flashes
Women who survive cancer have more frequent, severe, and troubling hot flashes than other women with menopausal symptoms, according to a study published online today in

http://phys.org/news/2013-07-bacterial-language.html#ajTabs[7/17/2013 1:47:25 AM]

Novel bacterial 'language' discovered

water, and ...

Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopa ...

Tiny bubbles hold big promise for NMR/MRI

(Phys.org) Berkeley Lab researchers have shown that tiny bubbles carrying hyperpolarized xenon gas hold big promise for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) and its sister technology, MRI (Magnetic Resonance ...

Recent findings on makeup of universe may spawn new research

(Phys.org) New areas of extragalactic study may emerge from research by University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) astrophysicists using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory to conclude that baryons ...

Researchers discover simple coating technique using tannic acid and iron
(Phys.org) A team of chemical researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia has discovered a simple coating technique that uses nothing but tannic acid and iron ions. In their paper published ...

Cranial irradiation causes brain degeneration

(Medical Xpress)Cranial irradiation saves the lives of brain cancer patients. It slows cancer progression and increases survival rates. Unfortunately, patients who undergo cranial irradiation often develop ...

Biochemists uphold law of physics (w/ Video)

Experiments by biochemists at the University of California, Davis show for the first time that a law of physics, the ergodic theorem, can be demonstrated by a collection of individual protein moleculesspecifically, a protein ...

Scientists power mobile phone using urine

British scientists on Tuesday reported they had harnessed the power of urine and were able to charge a mobile phone with enough electricity to send texts and surf the internet.

Researchers perform DNA computation in living cells

(Phys.org) Chemists from North Carolina State University have performed a DNA-based logic-gate operation within a human cell. The research may pave the way to more complicated computations in live cells, ...

High CO2 spurs wetlands to absorb more carbon

(Phys.org) Under elevated carbon dioxide levels, wetland plants can absorb up to 32 percent more carbon than they do at current levels, according to a 19-year study published in Global Change Biology from t ...

Top Home Medical Xpress Search

Help FAQ About Contact

Phys.org Account Sponsored Account Newsletter RSS feeds

Feature Stories Weblog & Reports Podcasts Archive

iPhone iPad Apps Blackberry App Android App & Widget Amazon Kindle PDA version
Privacy Policy Terms of Use

Phys.org 2003-2013

http://phys.org/news/2013-07-bacterial-language.html#ajTabs[7/17/2013 1:47:25 AM]