@article{c06581a305724960805e59dc56c6cb58,
title = "Species-Independent Attraction to Biofilms through Electrical Signaling",
abstract = "Bacteria residing within biofilm communities can coordinate their behavior through cell-to-cell signaling. However, it remains unclear if these signals can also influence the behavior of distant cells that are not part of the community. Using a microfluidic approach, we find that potassium ion channel-mediated electrical signaling generated by a Bacillus subtilis biofilm can attract distant cells. Integration of experiments and mathematical modeling indicates that extracellular potassium emitted from the biofilm alters the membrane potential of distant cells, thereby directing their motility. This electrically mediated attraction appears to be a generic mechanism that enables cross-species interactions, as Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells also become attracted to the electrical signal released by the B. subtilis biofilm. Cells within a biofilm community can thus not only coordinate their own behavior but also influence the behavior of diverse bacteria at a distance through long-range electrical signaling.",
keywords = "bacterial communities, biofilm, electrical signaling, ion channel, long-range signaling, membrane potential, motility, multispecies, single cell trajectories, tumbling frequency",
author = "Jacqueline Humphries and Liyang Xiong and Jintao Liu and Arthur Prindle and Fang Yuan and Arjes, {Heidi A.} and Lev Tsimring and S{\"u}el, {G{\"u}rol M.}",
note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank S. Lockless, T. Cagatay, M. Asally, K. S{\"u}el, and J. Garcia-Ojalvo for comments during the writing of the manuscript, San Ly for help with strain construction, K. Pogliano and R. Losick for providing bacterial strains, and D.Y. Lee, J. Larkin, and L. Baumgart for helpful discussions. This work was in part supported by the San Diego Center for Systems Biology (NIH P50 GM085764) and the National Science Foundation (MCB-1616755). The following grants to G.M.S. funded this work: the NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01 GM121888), the National Science Foundation (MCB-1450867 50867), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (HR0011-16-2-0035), and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Simons Foundation Faculty Scholars program. J.H. was supported by the UCSD Cellular and Molecular Genetics Training Program through an institutional grant from the National Institute of General Medicine (T32 GM007240). A.P. was supported by a Simons Foundation Fellowship of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation and holds a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. L.X. and L.T. were partially supported by ONR grant N00014-16-1-2093. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Inc.",
year = "2017",
month = jan,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1016/j.cell.2016.12.014",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "168",
pages = "200--209.e12",
journal = "Cell",
issn = "0092-8674",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "1-2",
}