A study reveals the biological mechanism that allows some organisms to return to life after tens of thousands of years
There are bacteria that when faced with a high stress situation decide stop life processes and enter a deep torpor that, in many ways, resembles death. These cells can remain ‘dead’ for tens of thousands (perhaps millions) of years, while withstanding extreme conditions such as extreme heat, powerful chemicals or even the harsh conditions of outer space. Even so, when the time comes, these organisms manage to restart your metabolism and resuscitate in a matter of minutes. But how do they get it?
the mystery of the ‘zombie bacteria’, which manage to ‘resurrect’ even after years apparently dead, has been intriguing experts for years. The great unknown is whether these bacteria are able to monitor their environment while they sleep to know exactly when is it worth waking up again or if, on the contrary, they are resurrected by chance. A study published this Thursday in the journal ‘Science’, led by researchers from Pompeu Fabra University and the University of California at San Diego, has achieved decipher this enigmatic phenomenon.
The formula to revive
As revealed by an experiment with spores of ‘Bacillus sutilis’bacteria, even when submerged in this state of deep dormancy, are capable of monitor environmental signals and assess when the conditions to return to life are met. A particularly curious dynamic revealed by this study is that spores are capable of draw a kind of timeline to add these signals, no matter how small, in order to know when a certain point is reached. optimal threshold to resume your activity metabolic and physiological.
The exact mechanism used by cells to know when to resurrect is next. Spores emit intermittently potassium ions to assess your surroundings. If they detect a favorable signal, no matter how short, the spores release part of the potassium to the medium. Thus doing, they manage to maintain the account of how many favorable environmental signals receive consecutively. This dynamic allows them to know if the environmental conditions have definitely improved or if, on the contrary, it is only a transitory improvement. In this way prevent premature resuscitation or, what is worse, return to life in a still unfavorable world.
“This work changes the way we think about spores, which until now were considered inert objects”
“This strategy is surprisingly similar to that of the neurons in our brain,” he explains. Jordi García Ojalvo , professor of systems biology at Pompeu Fabra University and one of the authors of this study. “This work changes the way we think about sporeswhich until now were considered inert objects”, adds Gurol Suela professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego.
“We show that cells that are in a state of deep torpor have the ability to process information. These spores can release their electrochemical potential energy to perform a calculation on their environment without the need for metabolic activity”, comments the expert after the publication of the study in the journal ‘Science’.
diseases and aliens
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To understand how ‘zombie bacteria’ are resurrectedAs explained by the researchers who have led this work, these findings can have many applications. An example is the case of disease-carrying bacteria that have been dormant for tens of thousands of years and that now, due to the thaw, could be resurrected. There are already several studies that warn that the melting of the poles, permafrost and, in general, the icy regions of the planet could release viruses and bacteria responsible for diseases hitherto unknown.
These ‘zombie bacteria’ findings could also guide the search for extraterrestrial life. In this sense, as Süel explains, “if life is found on Mars or Venusit is likely that be in an idle state. We now know that a life form that appears to be completely inert may still be able to think about its next steps.”