Quorum sensing; more research (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, April 08, 2015, 12:56 (3517 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: All done by molecular reactions:-http://phys.org/news/2015-04-mechanisms-social-networking-bacteria.html-QUOTE: "As he explains, "Individual bacteria within a population communicate with members of the group through a process called quorum sensing, where chemical signals and extracellular peptides serve as the language for bacterial communication." It is not just "social" networking, he adds. Bacterial communities use quorum sensing to control a variety of biomedically relevant biological processes.
"'Research in my lab is devoted to deciphering these different bacterial languages, understanding how bacteria perceive these signals, and determining how bacteria use this information to regulate biological processes at the molecular level," says Griffith. -Presumably your introductory remark “all done by molecular reactions” is meant to indicate that there is no cognition involved and everything is done automatically. As I see it, this article (and the clause you have emphasized) explains how bacteria use their own languages to communicate in order to decide the best way to use the information. The molecular activity is known, but how it is directed is not known. “Bacteria use quorum sensing to control...” does not mean “Bacteria are controlled by...” Here is another paragraph which vividly describes procedures that seem anything but automatic.-QUOTE: “Each species of bacteria has its own unique language, the authors say. In addition, there are "universal signals, analogous to Morse code, used for communication between different species of bacteria," says Griffith. "In microbial communities, bacteria within a similar group communicate with one another, while other groups are eavesdropping or even disrupting the others' communication. It is biological espionage. Bacteria that can communicate with one another and work together as a group will be more successful in competing for resources than individuals.”-Decisions are clearly being made all the time, and what the researchers have discovered is how bacteria communicate, not how they take those decisions. Perhaps you think that a description of how humans vibrate their vocal chords, waggle their tongues, open and close their lips etc. explains how and why they choose their words.