This achievement represents a review article published in a highly respected journal "Molecular Microbiology", which covers multiple mechanisms that Bacillus subtilis uses to allow it to communicate between cells and establish community structures. The modes of action that are used are highly varied and include routes that sense pheromone levels during quorum sensing and control gene regulation, the intimate coupling of cells via nanotubes to share cytoplasmic contents, and long-range electrical signalling to couple metabolic processes both within and between biofilms. We explore the ability of B. subtilis to detect ‘kin’ (and ‘cheater cells’) by looking at the mechanisms used to potentially ensure beneficial sharing (or limit exploitation) of extracellular ‘public goods’. Finally, reflecting on the array of methods that a single bacterium has at its disposal to ensure maximal benefit for its progeny, we highlight that the main future challenge will be integrating how these systems interact in mixed-species communities. This review comprises topics of this project and has attracted attention of the scientific community as evidenced by the citations and downloads of the paper.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4959608
The project coordinator has been an invited speaker at the most prestigious FEMS Conference of European microbiologists, where she lectured on bacterial social interactions. She also organized and chaired the section on Social ecology of microorganisms at the same conference. The objective of the talk was to provide an overview of bacterial social ecology with the focus on kin discrimination, which is also a topic of this project. One of the fundamental questions of social ecology is how bacteria differentiate between kin and non-kin. She emphasized kin discrimination on plant root system and ins potential importance for plant physiology. Understanding kin discrimination and their consequences for plant is the main team also of this project.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5131640
Results of this project were presented at the FEMS conference in Glasgow, 2019. The ComQXPA cell-cell communication system, also known as the quorum sensing system, which regulates important adaptive processes of Bacillus subtilis. The work shows that the ComX signaling peptide negatively regulates synthesis of the biofilm matrix components (TasA and Eps) and positively spore development. The biofilm of the B. subtilis signal deficient mutant (does not synthesizes signaling peptide) was compared to the wild type biofilm and results indicate that the mutant forms more robust biofilm, which contains larger quantity of matrix components. Promoter activity of epsA and TasA or constitutive promoters carrying fluorescent reporter fusions were estimated directly in biofilms by a the fluorescence scanning laser microscopy.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5128568