Researchers manipulate demographic of bacterial community with novel electronic technology
Date:
May 4, 2022
Source:
University of California - San Diego
Summary:
Using second-long electrical shocks, scientists discovered they
could control the types of cells in a community of bacteria. Being
able to direct the ratio of cells holds implications for settings
spanning agriculture to health care, where antibiotic resistance
is a significant threat.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Clusters of microscopic bacteria exist all around us. These invisible communities, known as biofilms, are found in habitats ranging from our
skin surface to sewer pipes and play integral roles in environments
spanning healthcare to agriculture.
========================================================================== Molecular biologists and physicists at the University of California San
Diego have joined forces to develop a novel method of using electrical
shocks to control the development of communities of bacteria. Their
findings, obtained with a newly developed technology, are significant
from a medical perspective.
In areas where bacteria growth is a concern, biofilms can lead to chronic infections, especially in locations such as hospitals where antibiotic resistance is a major health threat.
Much like other multi-cellular organisms, biofilms are composed of various
cell types that carry out specialized roles. For example, matrix-producing cells provide the structural "glue" that holds the bacterial community
together while motile cells play a role in the formation and spread
of biofilms. The balance of these two cell types defines the physical
and biological properties of the biofilm and is also important for its development. If there are too many matrix-producing cells, the biofilm
becomes too rigid and cannot grow efficiently. If there are too many
motile cells, the biofilm disintegrates as the cells swim away. Thus,
changing the ratio of these two cell types offers a precise method for controlling biofilms.
As described May 4, 2022 in the journal Cell Systems, a team at UC San
Diego with postdoctoral scholar Colin Comerci and fellow researchers in
the laboratory of Professor Gu"rol Su"el in the Department of Molecular Biology, along with colleagues in the Department of Physics, developed a
novel microfluidic device and combined it with a multi-electrode array,
which allowed them to apply localized electric shocks to a growing
biofilm.
To the researchers' surprise, electrical stimulation caused motile
cells to multiply, even though all cells in the biofilm are genetically identical.
"While it is known that electrical shocks can kill cells, here we show
that they can cause growth of a specific sub-type of cells," said Su"el,
a Biological Sciences professor with affiliations in the San Diego Center
for Systems Biology, BioCircuits Institute and Center for Microbiome Innovation.
"How a second-long stimulation can promote growth for hours and only
of one type of cells is a great puzzle that we are eager to solve."
"Being able to modulate cell types in this way is not just important for understanding biofilms," said Comerci. "The electrochemical signals we
used are similar to signals used during development in more complicated organisms like frogs, fish or even humans. Thus, our findings may offer analogies to other biological systems." Why electrical stimulation
boosts the population of one cell type rather than another remains a
mystery and continues to be studied at the Su"el laboratory.
Such influence, the researchers say, provides control of the biofilm's composition and development, and may offer a new tool to destabilize
biofilms in healthcare and agriculture settings.
The paper's full author list includes: Colin Comerci, Alan Gillman,
Leticia Galera-Laporta, Edgar Gutierrez, Alex Groisman, Joseph Larkin,
Jordi Garcia- Ojalvo and Gu"rol Su"el.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_San_Diego. Original written by Mario
Aguilera. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Bacteria,_biofilms ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Colin J. Comerci, Alan L. Gillman, Leticia Galera-Laporta, Edgar
Gutierrez, Alex Groisman, Joseph W. Larkin, Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo,
Gu"rol M. Su"el. Localized electrical stimulation triggers
cell-type-specific proliferation in biofilms. Cell Systems, 2022;
DOI: 10.1016/ j.cels.2022.04.001 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220504110419.htm
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