Biological complexity; bacteria sense touch (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, August 14, 2017, 21:24 (2658 days ago) @ dhw

Touching bacteria releases calcium ions much as our cells use ion transport for sensing touch:

https://phys.org/news/2017-08-bacteria.html

"For humans, our sense of touch is relayed to the brain via small electrical pulses. Now, University of Colorado Boulder scientists have found that individual bacteria, too, can feel their external environment in a similar way.

"In a new study, CU Boulder researchers have demonstrated that E. coli bacteria cells get excited when poked, sending out voltage induced calcium ion signals—the same way a vertebrate's sensory nervous system works. The results are believed to be the first documented observation of electrical excitability in individual bacteria cells.

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"What we think could be happening is that they're using these electrical signals to modify their lifestyle," said Joel Kralj, the senior author of the study and an assistant professor in MCDB and the BioFrontiers Institute.

"To study how bacteria feel their surroundings, the team inserted special genes into E. coli bacteria that glow when calcium ions or electricity pulse through them. The cells were placed in a sticky substrate under a microscope. Left alone, the cells remained dim. But when the scientists pushed a pad against them, the bacteria lit up. The sparks of light indicated that proteins, ions and electricity were moving around in the bacteria.

"The results indicate that bacteria and other creatures share a common tool for sensing their environment—an electrical pathway with the same functionality as human sensory neurons. From an evolutionary perspective, this signaling trait could be billions of years old and used by some of the oldest organisms on Earth."

Comment: In my view the starting point for future evolution was present in first life. As God started life he placed early starting points for future developments such as the appearance of neurons in multicellular organisms. I think there was pre-planning.