How bacteria 'talk'.

Mrs Bassler, professor at Princeton University, in one of her talk pointed out that we can be described as 90-90% bacteria. Her points have been really interesting to me as I always wonder about the life of this small and important prokaryotes.
As we know bacteria are important for our survival, however, some of them, such as cholera and tuberculosis, can be fatal to us.

Mrs Bassler took as example one type of marine bacteria named 'Vibrio fischeri', this is a type of fluorescent bacteria. Alone it does not turn itself on but as soon as it detects that the density, of the same species has grown around him, it turns on. Thinking about it, the same mechanisms takes place in our body. Bacteria enters our body but it takes time before they divide and become grown enough to be virulent.

So Bonnie `Bassler started to think how could bacteria detect they surrounding!?
First of all, they communicate with each other by a mechanism called quorum sensoring, enabling them to interact and therefore causing in some cases harm.
Inside the bacteria synthesis of low molecular weight molecules, called autoinducers, takes place, then those are either secreted or passively released outside the cells. Therefore as their density increases more  autoinducer is released which will bind to the next bacteria changing its gene expression. Thats how quorum sensoring begins, which makes them cooperate as a family.

Knowing so was really fascinating to me!!
What happen next?

Nowadays we are facing a dreadful issue: Bacterial Resistance. When expose to the antibiotic bacteria develop resistance which will enable it to survive, and so it will pass the alleles responsible for resistance on to the next generation. What Mrs Bassler thought was...what about if we insert an inhibitor with decrease the process of quorum sensoring, so that the bacteria are not longer able to communicate to each other. This will stop their virulence.
Moreover, her next step is to prove whether or not we come from bacteria as we share the same internal mechanisms.

Lastly, one think which made me proud of being a student of the future is that, at the end of the talk she thanked her students saying that without them every innovations are not possible and each step towards improvements are made by them.
It may seem obiovus that merits has to be given to the people who hardly, and I would also add happily, work but stimetimes the obivious in life is the hardest thing to reach.

                                          Professor Bonnie Bassler.

Source: Ted Talks (www.ted.com)