cellular-communication

Part 4: The dangling conversation In the previous article, we saw bacterial populations defend themselves collectively. Cyanobacteria formed protective flocs, while dying E.

A comparative study across arthropods finds that sperm cooperation is far more widespread and evolutionarily recurrent than previously assumed. In many insects, spiders, crustaceans and related animals, sperm bind into coordinated groups or use sperm-associated material to form organised structures.

In the previous article, we saw that bacteria may encounter several overlapping signals. Different messages can indicate neighbours, competitors, changing conditions or competing courses of action.

Kagoshima University researchers identified methyl benzoate as an airborne plant-defence signal whose release rises around dusk. Plants receiving the compound activate defence-related genes through NPR1, a central regulator of plant immunity, using a response pattern distinct from the better-known signal methyl salicylate.

To Which Quorum Should a Bacterium Listen? In the first article on microbial communication, we saw how bacteria release chemical signals that accumulate as a population grows.

Researchers found that aphids transfer several of their own microRNAs, together with the regulatory protein Argonaute 1, into Buchnera bacteria living inside specialised host cells.

Research into the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor found that cadmium exposure can trigger stress signals in parts of the fungal network that never directly encounter the metal.

This is a part one of a four part series of emergent microbial communication. “Quorum sensing”, “quorum quenching”. Cool words, what are we talking about here?