Abstract
All cellular membranes have the functionality of generating and maintaining the gradients of electrical and electrochemical potentials. Such potentials were generally thought to be an essential but homeostatic contributor to complex bacterial behaviors. Recent studies have revised this view, and we now know that bacterial membrane potential is dynamic and plays signaling roles in cell-cell interaction, adaptation to antibiotics, and sensation of cellular conditions and environments. These discoveries argue that bacterial membrane potential dynamics deserve more attention. Here, we review the recent studies revealing the signaling roles of bacterial membrane potential dynamics. We also introduce basic biophysical theories of the membrane potential to the microbiology community and discuss the needs to revise these theories for applications in bacterial electrophysiology.
Highlights
Trends in MicrobiologyAll cellular membranes have the functionality of generating and maintaining the gradients of electrical and electrochemical potentials
Membrane Potential Is Important for Bacterial Functions Across the cellular membrane there is an electrical potential difference, akin to a conventional battery
Free Energy for Bacteria from Ion Translocation An important and well‐known role of the membrane potential is that it makes up a part of the electrochemical gradient of ions across the membrane, known as ion motive force (IMF) [15]
Summary
All cellular membranes have the functionality of generating and maintaining the gradients of electrical and electrochemical potentials. Recent studies have revised this view, and we know that bacterial membrane potential is dynamic and plays signaling roles in cell– cell interaction, adaptation to antibiotics, and sensation of cellular conditions and environments. We review the recent studies revealing the signaling roles of bacterial membrane potential dynamics. Lundberg et al showed that the deletion of the gene encoding a potassium ion channel prevents B. subtilis biofilm formation [48] While these studies showed that bacterial ion channels have functional roles in signaling, the question of whether membrane potential could be dynamic and mediate signaling – like neurons – remained unclear. The potential that arises from this effect can be modeled with the Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz equation: VG
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