MINDLESS TALKS

By Ronie J. Calugay, PhD

From THE STAR SCIENCE Column

THE PHILIIPPINE STAR Newspaper
In three parts from April 22-May 6, 2010

What an ugly blot on the human character. Despite our sheer intelligence, we have strong
tendencies to spit out profanities, to gossip, backbite and badmouth people we envy and perceive
as threats to our self-esteem and interests. Listen carefully and you will find out that such
mindless talks have become daily plaques which never fail to ultimately breed discord and
destruction most especially in the workplace even in the most advanced of human societies. But
mind you, we share this world with countless of mindless organisms which have no time for such
mindless behavior even in the harshest of environments. These organisms are no other than the
bacteria! Bacteria are primitive and brainless yet when they communicate, unlike in a human
senate or congress, there is no mayhem, it is muted, always precise, methodical and coordinated
ensuring the utmost benefit of the population.

The sound of silence

It is proposed that prehistoric man started communicating by sign language and
eventually through spoken language. Who would have thought from the past century that we will
be a generation where audible words from our vocal chords are not necessarily needed to
socialize. Today, through our visual perceptions, we respond through electrical signals from our
brains transmitted down to our fingertips resulting in strokes on the keyboards, keypads,
touchscreens and a few clicks on the mouse. This is the modern trend of efficiently sharing our
thoughts and snippets of our lives whether across the street or around the world. How cool is
that! But before you get cocky over our gadget-savvy and pixelated generation, think again.
Billions of years ago, way before humans existed, microorganisms have already actually began a
sophisticated type of social communication, a phenomenon scientists call Quorum Sensing.

Reactions speak louder than words

1

Quorum sensing is the language of bacteria in the form of chemical signals which they
release. Bacteria communicate with each other in order to react to the rapidly changing
conditions in their environment like the availability of nutrients, evasion of toxic molecules,
defense against other bacteria and so forth. The chemical signals must be in sufficient
concentration, and that means there should be enough number of cells releasing them to trigger
the expression of specific genes as a response to a specific environmental condition. Quorum
sensing therefore can never be achieved by a single bacterium but only through a collective
effort hence the term quorum which is defined as a group with members competent of
accomplishing an objective. This is an amazing phenomenon wherein unicellular
microorganisms are reacting to their environment in unison like a single multicellular organism.
It accomplishes a task and reaps benefits as a group that can not be attained as a single cell.
Strength and safety in numbers is therefore the essence of quorum sensing. It is the
microbial version of the fascinating phenomenon of cooperative behavior seen in schools of fish
moving in unison, a flock of migrating birds or swirling swarms of bats for protection against
larger predators. Each member of the group tunes in to each other and reacts with unquestioning
allegiance in the name of survival.

Enlightened Expressions
The first glimpse on quorum sensing was observed in 1965 by Alexander Tomasz in
bacteria that cause pneumonia. Microbiologists were later enlightened on this phenomenon by
serendipity because of a squid that glows. Yes, not a firefly but a squid! The ocean not only
provided sushi on the table but also a specimen destined to be a luminary!
In 1970, Nealson, Platt and Hastings reported that the glow from the nocturnal Hawaiian
bobtail squid is emitted by millions of marine bacterial cells called Vibrio fischeri which are
living underneath the skin of the squid. The bacteria live in symbiosis with the squid meaning its
a I scratch your back, you scratch mine kind of relationship. The squid uses the light to avoid
predators, attract prey and find a mate. In exchange, the bacteria are provided an environment
with a steady supply of nutrients in a specialized compartment of the squid. Within that
microcosm, the bacteria are able to multiply in number and emit light. But when they are freely
living in the ocean outside the squid, they do not emit light and we will see later on why.

The ability of living organisms to emit light is called biolumiscence. The basic principles
of quoroum sensing was first observed in more detail in Vibrio fischeri and were confirmed to be
responsible for switching bioluminescence on and off. The experiments were carried out this
way: Vibrio fisheri cells isolated from the squid were cultured in the laboratory. When only a
very, very small number of cells were placed in a flask, the cells did not light up. As the number
of cells were increased, a corresponding increase in the intensity of the glow occurred. This
simple experiment has demonstrated that the cell density or the number of cells, determines the
factor that triggers bioluminiscence. Their theory was, this factor is a chemical signal which
accumulated to a sufficient concentration excreted by enough number of cells, capable of
triggering a group response like bioluminiscence. How did they confirm the presence of these
excreted chemical signals? Well in their next simple experiment, they separated the liquid from
where the numerous glowing bacteria were grown. They then added the liquid to the few nonglowing bacteria and then there was light!
Further biochemical tests of the culture liquid have identified the excreted chemical
signal as acyl-homoserine lactone or AHL. Now that sounds like a big term. But scientists also
call it autoinducer because enough concentration of it can bind to another protein which triggers
the expression of the set of genes for bioluminescence called lux. The expressed enzyme or
protein called luciferase catalyzes the chemical reaction to produce light.
In short, when a certain concentration of the excreted AHL is reached by a certain
number of cells, that population of cells respond by using that concentration to trigger a
population-wide production of luciferase. Vibrio fischeri cells not living symbiotically with the
squid but as free cells suspended in the ocean, although are constantly excreting AHL at a low
level, do not glow because that vast environment dilutes out or diffuses away AHL unlike in the
squid compartment where they are bottled-up accumulating enough concentration to trigger the
expression of bioluminiscence.

Sickening Conversations
Pathogenic or infectious disease-causing bacteria are also very dependent on quorum
sensing in order to successfully launch virulence, this term refers to their ability to defeat the
defense system of their host. Again, unite and conquer is the name of the game. When the U.S.
launched an attack against the Talibans in Afghanistan, they did not send out just one soldier. It
3

was not a one-man act. That would have been totally ridiculous and would not at all achieve the
objective. But brainless virulent bacteria are no dimwits. They set out invasions like a fleet of
tanks and fighter planes in constant communication with each other to accomplish the mission!
The term quorum sensing was coined by microbiologist EP Greenberg and his colleaques
of the University of Iowa. They identified the role of this phenomenon in the virulence of the
bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This bacterium infects immunocompromised patients or
those who are suffering from diabetes, AIDS or cancer because it has an impressive armament of
toxins that are so fatal they overcome the immune system. Because they can then thrive so well
in a host they form a compact thin strip of their dense population called biofilm. This can be
formed on any surface outside or inside the body like the lungs. Biofilms persist by quorum
sensing, together the cells excrete a slimy protective shield against several competing
microorganisms and antibiotics.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa also produces pyoverdine which is a siderophore, a molecule
which the bacterium sends out to its environment to scavenge and shuttle iron back into itself,
like a cargo ship sent out on a mission to bring back iron. It was later found by the research team
of Keith Poole of Queens University in Australia, that pyoverdine also plays a crucial role in
quorum sensing. Genetically engineered pseudomonads lacking a quorum sensing gene exhibited
low production of pyoverdine. Further studies showed that increased production of pyoverdine
increased the production of toxins. It was later confirmed that pyoverdine indeed is a deadly
emissary! It also acts as the autoinducer for triggering the population-wide expression of toxins
through quorum sensing.

On speaking terms
It is now well established that Vibrio fischeri excretes AHLs as chemical signals to
communicate, Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses both AHLs and the siderophore pyoverdine, and
other bacteria actually use peptides or short proteins. These are just the classic examples of
chemical signals but in the myriads of groups of microorganisms that exist, each group uses a
specific kind of chemical signal, meaning each group has its own language. Some of these
discovered so far are named ComX, SapB, Nod factor, A-factor, etc. So like humans, microbes
have different languages like Swedish, Bahasa, Mandarin, Spanish,etc. But like English, they
also have a universal language. Scientists termed this chemical signal autoinducer-2 or AI-2
4

which is found to be widespread in the microbial world facilitating interspecies communication.

Messages are also exchanged between two very different groups of organisms. Plants that harbor
bacteria at their roots excrete a chemical signal that trigger the expression via quorum sensing by
the bacteria of molecules beneficial to the plant and vice-versa.
There are also situations when neighboring microorganisms are not in speaking terms. In
cases of competion for available nutrients, a group of bacteria may use their chemical signals to
destroy the quorum sensing system of other groups of bacteria in the vicinity. Such deadly
messages are used also by the pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Announcing the good news

What got scientists so excited these days about quorum sensing? The alarming emergence
of numerous virulent bacteria which are resistant to many antibiotics has set them for many years
scrambling for a solution. Numerous bacteria can actually counter attack antibiotics by
producing antibiotic-degrading enzymes. This defense system works like launching patriot
missiles to intercept scuds! But scientists have once again come up with an ingenius scheme: if
you cant kill them, silence them!
Scientists are now developing new kinds of warheads in the form of vaccines which will
specifically target no other than the autoinducers which trigger quorum sensing hence blocking
the expression of toxins and the formation of biofilms. As a result, the resistant bacteria dont die
but they lose their virulence. Its like disarming or destroying the enemy arsenals instead of
capturing and shooting down all the enemies. This scheme was established by studying the
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which causes skin disease.
This strategy has also spawned tremendous application in agriculture. Plant pathogens
using quorum sensing to colonize grapevines in the wine industry, and in potatoes, onions and
other crops are now targeted. Other farm products like poultry, ground beef, smoked salmon to
name a few are spared from spoilage by knocking down quorum sensing. Inversely, in a very,
very important application, quorum sensing is not inhibited but used to enhanced the formation
of biofilms of bacteria which are capable of degrading environmental toxins and pollutants.
These bacteria are seeded in sewage treatment plants and industrial wastewaters.

Walk the talk

5

The world of microorganisms is indeed a challenging and a promising frontier. Quorum

sensing is just an eavesdrop of the infinite resounding discoveries that await us. The microbial
world not only offer vast potentials for the improvement of the environment and the
advancement of biotechnological and biomedical industries, but recently, believe it or not, more
and more scientists in the natural sciences are closely working with sociologists to study human
behavior and society making use of quorum sensing and other traits of microbial communities as
models.
Like in a national election, cooperative behavior is in the heart of such an important
event. Democracy is like the bioluminescence or the light a nation must collectively express.
Sincere public servants and competent leaders are the autoinducers of this important expression.
Though a single vote counts, it should be strengthened by the majority vote, from a quorum
nationwide. This is why military juntas or coup de etats are unspeakable aberrations in a
supposedly democratic, free and cooperative society.
Indeed, as brainless as they are, we brainy humans who constantly struggle in a vain, selfsuccess and egocentric culture can learn so much from the primitive bacteria. There is endless
talks on unity and progress but are we measuring up? To achieve and maintain true progress,
cooperation is needed. We have shown to the world before that there is always strength in
numbers. But always remember, that the powerful essence of cooperation actually starts no other
than with you.

Dr. Ronie J. Calugay obtained his PhD in Life Sciences and Biotechnology, at the
Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology where he
studied iron-shuttling molecules called siderophores produced by magnet-producing bacteria. He
studied cancer cure from soya beans for a short postdoctoral study at the University of
California, Berkeley. He finished his MS in Microbiology at the University of the Philippines,
Diliman and BS Biology in UP Baguio. He is now an Assistant Professor at the Department of
Biology, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.