Nat Microbiol: Two special signal molecules that compete or work together to control the growth and behavior of bacteria

16, 2020 // -- In a recent study published in the international journal Nature Microbiology, scientists from the University of Basel and others found two signaling molecules that can control the growth and behavior of bacteria.
bacteria are considered truly survival experts, capable of producing rapid adaptive responses to changing environmental conditions, and this is based on two competing signal molecules that act as metabolically controlled yin and yang sides that can determine the lifestyle of bacteria, and the results may help scientists develop new treatments to fight bacterial infections.
Whether it is pathogens, deep-sea microorganisms or organisms living in soil, in order to survive, microorganisms must quickly adapt to a variety of changes in the environment, including nutritional deficiencies, and bacteria have a special ability to quickly adapt to adverse living conditions with the help of small signal molecules. Urs Jenal, a
researcher, said: 'Now we've found that bacteria can use two chemically related signaling molecules to adapt their lifestyles to changing living conditions, just as yin and yang do, and they show two powerful forces that control bacterial growth and metabolism.'
Photo Source: University of Basel, Biozentrum In this study, researchers used Caulobacter crescentus as a model organism to analyze the anti-confrontational properties of two signal molecules in their cells called ppGpp and c-di-GMP, which can play two different roles, in an irresistibly free form and in a fertility state that is attached to the surface.
All lifestyle and environmental conditions of bacteria are reflected in the concentration of two signaling molecules, and this information can be detected by a special protein that binds all signaling molecules and acts as a molecular switch to control bacterial growth, metabolism and lifestyle.
signaling molecules ppGpp and c-di-GMP can compete with each other in order to bind to the total switching molecules, the researchers explained, and in the clumps of bacteria carrying high levels of ppGpp, proteins are turned on so that they are activated, in which the consumption of glucose is at its highest stage, while the harmful oxygen freelances produced are effectively mediumed, which may ensure that metabolic reactions can be adapted to the high energy needs of free bacterial cells, thus avoiding cell damage.
researcher Jenal says good living conditions provide enough nutrients to keep c-di-GMP levels rising and force free bacteria to develop into a solid form.
In this case, c-di-GMP replaces ppGpp from the protein's binding pocket and changes its structure to shut down its function, which redirects the metabolic response and promotes bacterial settlement, growth and reproduction, and the production of the cell's basic components is promoted together with the surface adsorption of the substance.
By studying the molecular total switch, the researchers found a link between the two regulatory networks, which so far have been thought to be acting alone, and although the Bacillus bacillus is an environmentally friendly bacteria, the yin and yang mechanisms found in the Bacillus Occi-ion bacteria may play a key role in the pathogenicity of other pathogens.
the researchers concluded that signaling molecules ppGpp and c-di-GMP may affect bacteria's toxicity, persistence, and antibiotic resistance in different ways, which in turn affect the progression of multiple infections in the body.
original source: Shyp, V., Dubey, B.N., Böhm, R. et al. Reciprocal grow control by external binding of nucleotide second messengers to a metabolic switch in Caulbacter crescentus. Nat Microbiol (2020). doi:10.1038/s41564-020-00809-4