A team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin has made a fascinating discovery that could revolutionize our understanding of how bacteria develop strategies to cause dangerous infections in humans. This finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has potential applications in preventing and combating bacterial infections, as well as addressing antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The research focuses on the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and reveals that these tiny creatures can create something akin to memories to determine when to form strategies that trigger harmful infections, such as resistance to antibiotics and the formation of bacterial swarms when millions of bacteria gather on a single surface.
Although bacteria don’t have brains, the team led by Souvik Bhattacharyya, a researcher in the Department of Molecular Biosciences at UT, found that bacteria can use iron levels as a way to store information about different behaviors. This information can then be activated in response to certain stimuli, similar to how we store data on a computer.
Previously, scientists observed that bacteria that had previously experienced swarming improved their performance in subsequent swarms. This research team sought to understand why this occurred. Since bacteria don’t have neurons or nervous systems, the “memories” they form are not like childhood birthday party memories but rather resemble information stored on a computer.
Iron, one of the most abundant elements on Earth, plays a key role in this process. Individual bacteria have variable levels of iron, and scientists observed that those with lower iron levels were better at swarming.
In contrast, bacteria forming biofilms, dense, sticky mats of bacteria on solid surfaces, had high levels of iron in their cells. Bacteria with antibiotic tolerance also had balanced levels of iron. These iron “memories” persist for at least four generations and disappear by the seventh generation.
According to Bhattacharyya, Before there was oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, early cellular life was utilizing iron for a lot of cellular processes. Iron is not only critical in the origin of life on Earth but also in the evolution of life.
Researchers theorize that when iron levels are low, bacterial memories are triggered to form a fast-moving migratory swarm to seek out iron in the environment. When iron levels are high, memories indicate that this environment is a good place to stick around and form a biofilm.
Iron levels are definitely a target for therapeutics because iron is an important factor in virulence, Bhattacharyya said. Ultimately, the more we know about bacterial behavior, the easier it is to combat them.
Sources
The University of Texas at Austin | Souvik Bhattacharyya, Nabin Bhattarai, et al., A heritable iron memory enables decision-making in Escherichia coli. PNAS, November 21, 2023, 120(48)e2309082120. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2309082120
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