2023-08-07 11:44:45
An international team discovers that, just like in humans, soil bacteria have internal clocks that synchronize their activities with the 24-hour cycles of day and night on Earth, they publish in the journal Science Advances (1).
Los circadian clocks they are complex intracellular molecular networks that structure processes during 24 hours a day. They are usually described as self-sustaining, temperature-compensated daily rhythms that follow 24-hour cycles of cyclical environmental time signals (zeitgebers). These endogenous timing mechanisms are ubiquitous throughout nature.
Los circadian clocks they are complex intracellular molecular networks that structure processes during 24 hours a day.
This discovery offers various opportunities, from the precise timing of antibiotic use to the bioengineering of gut and soil microbiomes.
New research shows just how complex and sophisticated these circadian clocks bacteria and open the way to a new and exciting phase of study. This work will offer various opportunities, from the precise timing of antibiotic use to the bioengineering of smarter gut and soil microbiomes.
It is an international collaboration between the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich (LMU Munich), in Germany; the John Innes Center (UK), the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Leiden (Netherlands) made the discovery by analyzing gene expression as evidence of clock activity in soil bacteria Bacillus subtilis.
Lead author, Dr. Francesca Sartorfrom LMU Munich, explains that “the circadian clock of this microbe is ubiquitous: we see that it regulates several genes and a number of different behaviours”.
In the same vein, Professor Antony Doddfrom the John Innes Center, stresses that “it is astonishing that a single-celled organism with such a small genome has a circadian clock with some properties reminiscent of clocks in more complex organisms.”
Previous work by this team had shown the existence of a circadian clock in a strain of this bacterium laboratory derived. It was the first time that circadian clocks had been observed in the bacterium Bfine needle.
The researchers used a technique that inserts an enzyme called luciferase that produces light when a gene is expressed. This bioluminescence guided the team in following the bacterial clock as conditions varied.
Circadian clocks in ‘Bacillus subtilis’
The lead author of the post, Professor Martha Merrowfrom the LMU Munich, notes that “this study demonstrates that circadian clocks are widely found in Bacillus subtilis. We could harness the knowledge of the clock to improve health and increase the sustainability of food production or biotechnology,” he adds.
This new study is a significant advance for multiple reasons. It reveals that these clocks exist in strains collected in natural environments, so they could be widespread in this bacterium.
Besides, B. subtilis keep showing Cardiac rhtyms both in constant darkness and light, and research reveals examples of nuanced responses found in the circadian clocks of many other organisms. In the field of circadian biology, these responses are known as after effects y Aschoff’s rule.
As in more complex organisms, bacteria can synchronize their physiology and metabolism at different times of the day as light and temperature conditions change.
Taken together, this suggests that, as in more complex organisms, bacteria can synchronize their physiology and metabolism at different times of the day as light and temperature conditions change.
The discovery offers opportunities for biotechnology, human health and phytology. Understanding the properties of bacterial circadian clocks can help us with the industrial applications of microbiology; it could lead to a new understanding of how microbiomes are formed and indicate how well antibiotics work at certain times of day to disrupt pathogenic bacteria.
This study could lead to a new understanding of how microbiomes are formed and indicate how well antibiotics work at certain times of day to disrupt pathogenic bacteria.
This knowledge could also help us in crop protection. ‘Bacillus subtilis’ is a beneficial soil bacterium that farmers use to facilitate nutrient exchange, plant development and defense against pathogenic microbes.
What genes are involved in the clock mechanism?
The team is developing the Bacillus subtilis as a model organism for the study of circadian clocks in bacteria. One of the next steps is to find out which genes are involved in the clock mechanism. The team is also curious about know how the circadian clock of B. subtilis depends on multicellular organization for full functionality
Circadian clocks are internal oscillators that offer selective advantage to organisms by adapting their physiology and metabolism to 24-h changes in the environment, such as changes in light, temperature, or predator behavior.
Circadian clocks are internal oscillators that offer selective advantage to organisms by adapting their physiology and metabolism to 24-h changes in the environment, such as changes in light, temperature, or predator behavior. They give rise to the disruptive effects of jet lag when we cross different time zones.
“What is true for E. coli is true for the elephant”
Professor Ákos T. Kovács, from the University of Leiden and the Technical University of Denmark, recalls that “the French biologist Jacques Monod once famously said: ‘What is true for E. coli it’s true for the elephant.” At the time, he was referring to the universal rules of molecular biology: DNA and proteins.”
“Similarly, it is surprising that the circadian clock of the Bacillus subtilis – a bacterium with only four thousand genes – has a complex circadian system reminiscent of the circadian clocks of complex organisms such as flies, mammals, and plants“, he concludes.
References (1) The circadian clock of the bacterium B. subtilis evokes properties of complex multicellular circadian systems. Science Advances.
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