Inside all of us live countless multitudes of bacteria, most all of which benefit us.

However, once in a while, pathogenic bacteria may meander into our susceptible bodies
and quietly reproduce until they grow to such a large population that the body becomes
ill. Relatively recent studies into infectious colonies of bacteria led to the research of
Vibrio fischeri, bioluminescent bacteria that often live within fish. What scientists find
peculiar about these bacteria is that their bioluminescence only becomes apparent once
the colony reaches a certain size, upon which the colony grows even more rapidly. The
discoverers of this found that the bacteria communicate amongst themselves through a
process called quorum sensing, a process thought to account for crop diseases and
human infection (Moore, Stanitski, & Jurs, 2011).
How is this relevant? In clinical settings, bacterial infections are notoriously
common and the immediate action for treatment involves antibiotics. Considering that
the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria has plagued headlines this past decade and
continues to pose a serious threat to wellbeing globally, it is important to understand the
mechanisms by which bacteria may communicate their resistance to other bacteria.
This is contrasting to the typical idea of bacterial resistance as solely genetic in basis, as
these chemicals released by bacteria induce resistance in nearby bacteria. However, the
ability of the substances to induce resistance dissipates as the concentration decreases
(i.e. when there are not enough bacteria in the colony to effectively produce and
transmit such compounds).
In El-Halfawy and Valvanos experiment, the bacteria Burkholderia cenocepacia
was used as a model due to its representation of acquired antibiotic resistance through
this quorum sensing. This bacteria was compared to mutant varieties of the same
bacteria that were unable to produce certain signaling molecules, thus preventing
communication between the bacteria. Upon treatment with a variety of antibacterials,
the wild-type bacteria proved to be resistant while the mutant varieties died.
The chemistry of this phenomenon is inherent to the biological mechanisms by
which the bacteria utilize signal molecules. Bacteria take in the molecules, which bind to
certain proteins or other structures within. However, this equilibrium reaction proceeds
almost completely forward, and the production of the product induces the production of
even more product (that is, the signal molecule+protein complex).
This study implies that looking further into quorum sensing of bacteria is
important in the prevention of forming antibiotic resistance bacteria. Since genes are
not the only point of interest anymore, this may lead to even more questions as to how
to effectively stop quorum sensing of pathogenic bacteria while retaining the beneficial
ones.

Citations

El-Halfawy, O. M., & Valvano, M. A. (2013). Chemical communication of antibiotic
resistance by a highly resistant subpopulation of bacterial cells. PLOS one, doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0068874

Moore, J. C., Stanitski, C. L., & Jurs, P. C. (2011).Chemistry: The molecular science. (pp.
680-681). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.