Bacteria have an "internal" clock

At the Australian National University, experts have concluded that bacteria have their own “internal” clocks that differ from those of humans, and that they can also affect the functioning of the human body.

Jeff McFalden, the author of the new research project, is confident that if the course of the “bacterial” internal clock is taken into account during treatment, the effectiveness of the therapy will be several times higher.

In Chicago, a group of specialists supported their colleagues from Australia; they are also confident that during the “active behavior” or “sleep” of bacteria, the human body can be more sensitive to treatment, in particular, to the action of antibacterial drugs.

A joint effort by a research group from Chicago and Melbourne (Australia) has proven that it is important to take into account the bacteria's "internal" clock during treatment. Experts note that antibiotics are more effective during the period of "active behavior" of bacteria, since it is during this phase that bacteria are more sensitive to this group of drugs.

In the laboratory, a group of experts conducted an experiment, and as a result, they were able to understand the control scheme of microbes.

Dr. Michael Rust used cyanobacteria (the earliest form of life) in his research. According to Dr. Rust, the state of these bacteria depends on the sun's rays, since photosynthesis is the way cyanobacteria feed. It turns out that at night, such bacteria starve, their activity slows down, i.e. they fall into a kind of "hibernation", and during the day they are active and grow. In Dr. Rust's research, the sun's rays were replaced with sugar, and the theory was confirmed - replacing the way of feeding helped change the lifestyle of the bacteria, and make their "internal" clock work simultaneously with various metabolic processes.

Scientists believe that this discovery will allow them to learn in the future how to make bacteria perform specific purposes, for example, use them for transplantation of drugs or for purification at a certain time.

In the future, this method could lead to the invention of a cure for malaria. Dr. Jeff McFadden is currently researching this area. Malaria pathogens also have an "internal" clock, the secret of which McFadden's group is currently working on. If the researchers can uncover it, a malaria drug that takes into account the parasites' "internal" time will soon be developed.

Another interesting work was the discovery of Japanese scientists who found a new type of bacteria that feed on electricity. The new microorganisms became known relatively recently, the discovery was made by scientists from the University of Tokyo. Bacteria live in the oceans at great depths, they prefer to settle near hot springs. One of these bacteria was studied by the Japanese, they placed it in a special vessel and passed a current of 1/3 V through it. This led to the bacteria increasing by 30% in just a few seconds, and it became much darker.

The experiment suggests that the bacteria used energy, a discovery that Japanese researchers say could change the way science develops.