Researchers at the Hebrew University discovered a new substance that allows bacteria to communicate with each other

The research may lead to the development of a new type of antibiotic

Researchers from the Hebrew University discovered a new substance that allows bacteria to communicate with each other and causes them to die. This discovery could have significant implications that would lead to the development of a new class of antibiotic drugs.
Bacteria are traditionally considered to be single-celled organisms, but is this true? Does each bacterium really live for itself? In recent years, the evidence from various scientific experiments is multiplying according to which the bacteria rarely behave as single organisms. In fact, the bacteria live in a community where individual organisms communicate with each other and thus express multicellular behaviors.
In the article, which will be published on Friday (October 26.10) in the prestigious scientific journal Science, the researchers from the Hebrew University describe the new material they discovered. The substance, created and secreted by the intestinal bacterium known as "Escherichia coli", serves as a means of communication between individual bacterial cells.
The research was carried out by a research group led by Prof. Hanna Engelberg-Kolka from the Department of Molecular Biology at the Hebrew University School of Medicine. Doctoral student Ilana Kolodkin-Gal, former research student Dr. Ronan Hazan and Dr. Ariel Gaaton from the Department of Interdepartmental Equipment of the Faculty of Medicine participated in the study.
The material created by "Escherichia coli" enables the activation of a built-in "suicide system" found in the bacterial chromosome and responsible for its programmed death under stressful conditions. For this reason, the new substance is called Extra-Cellular Death Factor (EDF). Without this substance the "suicide system" is not activated and therefore the bacteria will not die.
While the process of cell death does not benefit the individual bacteria, it actually benefits the entire bacterial community - this through the simultaneous action of the group of cells that communicate with each other through the EDF. Under stress conditions, where the EDF is activated, a large subgroup within the bacterial culture dies, thereby allowing the survival of the group as a whole. The death of the majority of the bacterial group that exists only in the presence of the EDF probably allows the survival of the species.
Understanding how the EDF functions can lead to the development of antibiotic substances that will activate the "suicide system" present in the intestinal bacteria "Escherichia coli" and most other bacteria. Also includes those various disease factors that carry the "suicide system" on them.
"The communication material that has been revealed is a new biological molecule," Prof. Engelberg-Kolka notes. "This is a peptide (tiny protein) created by the bacterium." The characterization of the material was particularly difficult for the researchers. Since the substance is found in the bacterial culture in tiny amounts, but is broken down by conventional characterization methods, the researchers had to develop a new method for it. During the study, several genes of the bacterium were identified that participate in the creation of the communication substance.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (ISF), the America-Israel Binational Foundation (BSF) and the American Institutes of Health (NIH).