tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8341686541622227200.post5910615080165043929..comments2024-02-08T12:10:38.282+00:00Comments on Life of a Lab Rat: Waking sleeping bacteriaLab Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07962574174521597312noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8341686541622227200.post-29861714719892199312010-11-03T10:38:17.781+00:002010-11-03T10:38:17.781+00:00@Ford: Thanks for the comment. I definitely agree ...@Ford: Thanks for the comment. I definitely agree that bacteria have nothing to gain by encouraging other bacteria in their vicinity. I was using 'signal' more from the point of view of a molucules being recognised by receptors in the dormant bacteria, rather than a purposfully excreted molecule, so "cue" would probably have been a better word. <br /><br />Thanks for the links to the papers - will definately take a look through them.Lab Rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07962574174521597312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8341686541622227200.post-68818054320382396572010-11-02T20:35:26.627+00:002010-11-02T20:35:26.627+00:00Consistent with my first comment, the paper notes ...Consistent with my first comment, the paper notes that "in poly-microbial communities, Streptomyces spp. might acquire a <br />growth advantage by PREVENTING the transition of spores (and perhaps other dormant cell types) into growing states", which it apparently does by blocking the receptor (in nearby cells) for the murapeptide cue.<br /><br />Our paper (click my name) discusses a form of bet-hedging in bacteria, whereby a dividing cell makes one dormant and one nondormant daughter.Fordhttp://blog.lib.umn.edu/denis036/thisweekinevolution/2010/10/bet-hedging_in_symbiotic_rhizo.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8341686541622227200.post-65456356073622270632010-11-02T19:28:06.244+00:002010-11-02T19:28:06.244+00:00Why would bacteria benefit from waking other bacte...Why would bacteria benefit from waking other bacteria? Wouldn't a mutant that uses all the food itself displace a parental strain that wakes up its competitors when food is available? I bet leakage of murapeptide is something they can't control, making it a cue (an information-bearing molecule that happens to be useful to recipients), rather than a signal (produced BECAUSE it benefits recipients). Link discusses a related paper.Fordhttp://blog.lib.umn.edu/denis036/thisweekinevolution/2010/10/bet-hedging_in_symbiotic_rhizo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com