Discovered the secret way of talking about bacteria

The bacteria communicate with each other similar to the "talk" of nerve cells in the brain, according to a new study.

The researchers conducted a test that showed how a microbial cluster behaves smoothly when it reaches a certain size.

In the experiment, the bacteria at the outer edge of the biofilm cluster consisted of hundreds of thousands of microorganisms, which were approached unlimitedly with nutrients, while individuals in the biofilm center. risk of starvation.

To solve this problem, distant bacteria from the center periodically stop growing to allow nutrients to flow into the center. That makes the bacteria in the biofilm center able to survive the attacks of chemicals and antibiotics.

Experiments later confirmed that the bacteria are communicating with each other through electrical signals due to "gate" proteins, acting as " ion channels", transmitting and transmitting to their bodies. In particular, the signals are transmitted through biological membranes through charged potassium ion waves.

When ion channels are removed from bacteria, the communication process ends.

Dr. Gurol Suel of the University of California (USA), who led the study, explained: "Just like nerve cells in our brains, we found, bacteria use ion channels to communicating with each other through electrical signals In this way, the microbial community within biofilms seems to function very much like a "microbial brain".

According to Dr. Suel, the discovery has changed the way we look at bacteria as well as the brain.

"All our senses, behavior and intelligence are obtained by electrical communication between nerve cells in the brain, through ion channels. We now find that bacteria use these Similar ion channels to communicate and relieve metabolic stresses Discovered implications, neurological disorders that arise from metabolic stress may originate from bacteria. can bring new perspectives on how to treat such diseases, " Suel stressed.

Suel and his colleagues also realized an interesting thing is that both migraine and bacterial signaling are triggered by metabolic stress . This means that many of the drugs originally developed to treat epilepsy and migraine can also be effective in attacking bacterial biofilms, which are becoming a health problem. worldwide because of their antibiotic resistance.