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Short-range quorum sensing controls horizontal gene transfer at micron scale in bacterial communities
Jordi van Gestel1,2,3,4,5, Tasneem Bareia6, Bar Tenennbaum7
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. jordivangestel@gmail.com.
Nature Communications
|April 20, 2021
Summary
Bacteria use quorum-sensing to communicate locally. Some systems use irreversible signal uptake for highly localized communication, enabling detection of micron-scale community changes and adaptive gene transfer.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Bacterial Communication
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Bacteria communicate using diffusible signal molecules in a process called quorum-sensing.
- Quorum-sensing regulates traits like conjugative transfer, which depend on local community composition.
- The spatial range of bacterial communication remains an important question.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the communication range of different bacterial quorum-sensing systems.
- To investigate the mechanisms enabling detection of local community composition.
- To understand the role of short-range communication in mobile genetic element transfer.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of quorum-sensing system communication ranges.
- Investigating signal molecule diffusion and uptake dynamics.
- Studying the impact of localized communication on horizontal gene transfer.
Main Results:
- Some quorum-sensing systems exhibit highly localized communication, with signal propagation limited to a few microns.
- Irreversible signal uptake by cells restricts signal diffusion, enabling precise detection of local environmental changes.
- Short-range communication is employed by mobile genetic elements to regulate horizontal gene transfer based on local host availability.
Conclusions:
- Bacterial communication occurs across diverse spatial scales, from long-range to highly localized.
- Localized quorum-sensing allows bacteria to sense and respond to fine-grained changes in their microenvironment.
- Understanding bacterial spatial biology is crucial for comprehending microbial community dynamics and evolution.
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