Cell-autonomous diversification in bacteria arises from calcium dynamics self-organizing at a critical point

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biophysics
• Complex Systems

Background:

• Bacterial calcium regulation kinetics are faster than typical cellular adaptation mechanisms.
• The underlying biophysical principles governing rapid bacterial calcium dynamics remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the mechanism behind rapid bacterial calcium fluctuations.
• To investigate the role of self-organized criticality (SOC) in bacterial calcium regulation.
• To understand how calcium dynamics influence bacterial population behavior and diversification.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of bacterial calcium fluctuations as temporal-fractals.
• Modeling of calcium channel coupling via membrane voltage to understand SOC emergence.
• Investigation of environmental and genetic perturbations on calcium dynamics and critical exponents.
• Assessment of the impact of altered calcium dynamics on population information capacity and lifestyle transitions.

Main Results:

• Bacterial calcium fluctuations exhibit temporal-fractal properties governed by self-organized criticality (SOC).
• SOC in bacterial calcium arises from calcium channel coupling mediated by membrane voltage.
• Perturbations alter calcium dynamics and critical exponents, affecting population information capacity.
• SOC-governed calcium fluctuations partially mediate the transition from motile to sessile lifestyles via c-di-GMP regulation.

Conclusions:

• Bacteria utilize principles of phase transitions (SOC) for dynamic calcium equilibrium.
• This mechanism enables cell-autonomous population diversification during surface colonization.
• Leveraging stochasticity at phase boundaries allows bacteria to adapt and diversify.