Prof. Fan Bai published a paper in PNAS.
It was generally believed that bacterial Vm is static, until recent studies revealed that bacterial Vm can be highly dynamic and enables cell-to-cell communication in biofilms. These findings necessitate new studies of bacterial electrophysiology. However, the study of bacterial electrophysiology is limited, mainly due to a lack of convenient tools for monitoring bacterial Vm. Here, we developed two genetically encoded bacterial Vm sensors, which allow single-cell recording of bacterial Vm dynamics in live cells with high temporal resolution. We reveal the electrically “excitable” and “resting” states and its relationship with antibiotic tolerance. Our findings demonstrate the potential of our voltage sensors for explorations of bacterial electrophysiology, and future studies could evoke new strategies to combat bacterial drug tolerance.
Original link: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208348120.
