By BETH HARPAZ
A new study in the journal Scientific Reports found that single cell bacteria change as they form microcolonies, forgoing “a single cell lifestyle for a communal lifestyle.”
The cells in the study had “identical features,” yet displayed “heterogeneous behavior.” Bacteria near the microcolonies’ surface exhibited increased movement thanks to microscopic appendages called pili that elongated and retracted. In contrast, bacteria in the core of the microcolonies were more static, bonded to each other by their pili.
The movement of cells with retractable pili allowed small bacterial microcolonies to combine into larger microcolonies made up of thousands of cells in just a few hours. Microcolonies are the first stage of the development of biofilms, a bacterial community that sticks to a surface. “The mechanisms at play in this development are the subject of intense scientific inquiry due to the health related importance and ubiquity of biofilms,” the researchers wrote.
The research was conducted by Ph.D. candidate Kelly B. Eckenrode (Macaulay Honors College, The Graduate Center, CUNY, Brooklyn College), Professor Nicolas Biais (Brooklyn College, The Graduate Center, CUNY), Khaled Alzurqaand Hadi Nasrollahi (Brooklyn College), along with colleagues at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden, Germany.
The researchers found that the motility of the surface cells also led to differential gene expression — the activation of different genes — in those active cells compared to the stable cells in the microcolony center.
The study was done using the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, which the researchers said “not only enables us to understand better the physiology of an important human disease” but “could also give a new insight into the earliest steps of genetic differentiation within a group of identical bacterial cells and ultimately the evolution of multicellularity.”
Joy Nuga will specialize in finance, public and social policy, and technology. She is a Risk Analyst at Goldman Sachs and a 2017 graduate of Macaulay at Hunter College with a degree in Economics, Public Policy, and German. While at Macaulay, Joy was named a 2017 Franklin Williams Scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations and a recipient of the 2016 Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. These honors directly pertain to her interests in the intersection between private finance, public policy, and cybersecurity. Joy now serves on the Advisory Board for the Cyber Workforce Alliance (CWA) and regularly advocates for widespread cyber literacy. Joy hails from The Bronx, New York.
Elliot David‘s focus will be the environment, climate, and foreign policy. He will graduate in May from Macaulay at Hunter College, where he studies Political Science and Economics as a Cooperman Scholar. Before attending Macaulay, Elliot was a Sergeant in the IDF Paratroopers, and is the cofounder and President of a campus student organization which seeks to promote nuanced dialogue about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Elliot hopes to play a significant role in developing solutions to international conflicts and promoting global environmental sustainability.