Bacteria cells use touch to talk with one another - Researchers found a contact-dependent communication system in uropathogenic E. coli

From handshakes to hugs, humans communicate through touching on a daily basis. But what if this communication extended beyond humans or even the animal kingdom? Recent studies at UC Santa Barbara suggest that bacteria use touch to communicate with one another and to perform various functions.
Christopher Hayes, a UCSB associate professor of biology, and graduate students Elie Diner, Christina Beck and Julia Webb recently published a study about uropathogenic E. coli (UPECT) in Genes & Development. UPECT is the bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections in humans. Their findings show that there is cooperative link among cell systems that were previously considered as competitive.
The team's findings illustrate that bacteria expressing CDI, which is a contact-dependent growth inhibition system, can inhibit other bacteria within the same system as long as the potentially inhibited target bacteria has CYsK. CYsK is a metabolic enzyme that plays a role in the synthesis of cysteine, an amino acid. The inhibition occurs when CysK binds to the enzyme that breaks RNA??, the CDI toxin, and activates it.
This discovery is incredibly surprising because cell systems were previously understood in context of their capacity to destroy other bacteria. According to Hayes, the research shows that the CDI and the inhibitor cell must essentially ask for permission from the target to inhibit it. Furthermore, Hayes makes note of the complex and unusual characteristics of this touching and talking process.
The team's findings indicate that cells could use CDI as a means to communicate to achieve a common goal. The CysK enzyme catalyzes the bacterial communication. It acts as a touching signal or a password to turn the process on. One of the applications of this communication, according to Hayes, is that the bacteria could communicate as a team to form a biofilm, a tool bacteria use to increase bacterial strength and chances for survival.
Furthermore, the findings of this study could lead to possible discoveries for other bacteria. Although the study conducted only applied to UPECT, the team's discoveries could have implications for diseases, such as bacterial meningitis or even for plant-based destructive bacteria.
While the current applications of this discovery have yet to be studied, according to David Low, co-author of the paper, the research could have potentially revolutionary implications for studies on how bacteria communicate.