Molecular mail by nanotube

摘要

Bacteria can communicate by sending molecules to each other along nanotube bridges. Researchers previously thought that bacteria exchanged molecules primarily by secreting and sensing them. Gyanendra Dubey and Sigal Ben-Yehuda at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel observed tubular protrusions between neighbouring Bacillus subtilis cells (pictured) and showed that they are used to exchange molecules and proteins.