OT: Article on bacteria's abilities to communicate

[Guest guest]

I found this science article interesting.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527501.300-bugging-bugs-learning-to-speak-microbe.html?page=1

<snip>

Take Candida albicans, the yeast that causes thrush

infections. This organism likes the same warm, moist habitats as P.

aeruginosa and the two battle it out in a bid to colonise their human

hosts, deploying quorum-sensing signals as weapons against each other. The

yeast fires off signals that trick the bacterium into slashing production of

one of its armaments - a reactive chemical called pyocyanin, which makes life

particularly uncomfortable for the yeast. The bacterium, meanwhile, produces

signals that keep the yeast's growth in check, preventing it from transforming

itself from a single-celled yeast into a branching, multicellular fungus.