Findings in title quoted from the summary released by the University of York, U.K., 11 Jan. 2023.

Excerpt:

>Researchers have uncovered how some bacteria use electrical spikes to overcome antibacterial drugs, potentially leading to ‘superbugs’ that are resistant to antibiotics.

>The study, led by a team at the University of York and Peking University, reveals how bacteria – many of which result in debilitating diseases – exhibit short-lived electrical spikes very similar to those found in nerve cells, and use these to help evade the killing effects of antibiotics.

>The research is an important step forward in understanding how actively growing bacteria exhibit transient electrical spikes across their cell membranes, and how these spikes are associated with an increased ability to survive the killing effects of antibiotics, the authors of the study say.

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>Co-lead author of the study, Professor Mark Leake, from the Physics of Life group at the University of York, said: “Our study suggests that when bacteria are actively growing, such as during an infection, they exhibit short-lived spikes in the electrical voltage across their cell membranes.

>"We find that cells which have larger and more frequent spikes can literally spit out antibiotics via these channels before they have a chance to kill the cell.”

>The study may solve the puzzle of how some bacteria known as ‘persisters’ can in effect resuscitate themselves after a treatment of antibiotics is stopped and go on to grow new infectious colonies.

>The team developed new used fluorescent dyes to act as high-precision voltage sensors that are inserted directly into the bacteria’s genetic code. Using laser fluorescence microscopy on these cells allowed the team to observe these voltage spikes directly for the first time on individual cells.

Xin Jin, et al. Sensitive bacterial Vm sensors revealed the excitability of bacterial Vm and its role in antibiotic tolerance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208348120