Study how the bacteria communicate

Researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, have discovered a way in which bacteria can communicate with each other through nanotubes. This finding is important for efforts to deal with the spread of harmful bacteria in the human body.

Professor Sigal Ben-Yehuda

The bacteria communicate in nature mainly through secretion and reception of signaling molecules outside the cell, according to Professor Sigal Ben-Yehuda, working at the Israel-Canada Research Institute of Medicine (IMRIC), belonging to Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Israel, and the head of the research team. The results of this study were published in the journal Cell. This communication allows bacteria to perform complex tasks such as producing antibiotics and secrete virulence factors.

Ben-Yehuda's team has previously identified a bacterium that mediates nanotubes that bridge other bacterial cells around. Researchers have shown that nanotubes connect bacteria of the same species and different species. Through nanotubes, bacteria can exchange small molecules, proteins and even small genetic elements (also known as plasmids).

This mechanism can create favorable conditions for bacteria to receive new features in nature, such as antimicrobial resistance. In this view, achieving a better understanding of molecular nanotubes formation could lead to the development of a new strategy to fight pathogenic bacteria, according to Ben-Yehuda.