It turns out that bacteria have memories

One of the bacteria brainThey do not have a mouth that allows them to speak, nor do they have senses like ours. Although it may seem like it is not easy to create memories in such a situation, it has been revealed that bacteria can not only create memories but also transmit these memories to the next generations.

With its scientific name Escherichia coliknown as Parcel printed The type of bacteria called is one of the most common bacteria in the world and has been the subject of many different studies. Still, this single-celled creature continues to surprise scientists endlessly.

E. coli can remember its experiences for hours.

Of course, it does not show that E. coli actually creates memories through tests such as going and finding the match of the cards. In other words, they do not have a conscious memory like we do. They mostly show these features in the changes in decision-making mechanisms. from the University of Texas Souvik Bhattacharyya, the lead author of the researchers’ study, said that bacteria store information about the environment they are in, and they can use these memories if they are in an environment very often.

In the experiment involving more than 10 thousand bacteria, the spreading and grouping behaviors of the bacteria were observed. While searching for food, bacteria quickly move from one point to another. Bacteria spread and search for food in the area, and when they find food, they gather together. cellular iron While bacteria move rapidly in low-iron-dense environments, they come together in iron-dense environments. When they are moved to an environment where iron is low, they quickly move towards the iron-dense environment and again. They do not make any foraging movements.

They can also pass on information to subsequent generations.

Another striking aspect of the research is that the bacteria acquired this information. passing it on to the next generations happened. While it was revealed that this knowledge was transferred for at least four generations, subsequent generations were observed to move even faster.

Scientists believe that bacteria create a memory system based on iron. There was no oxygen in the atmosphere for a very long time before our planet became what it is today, and bacteria to fulfill its intracellular functions iron was using. That’s why it is considered normal that memory-creating mechanisms are shaped using iron.

Researchers study the movement and movement of bacteria memory mechanisms He believes that a better understanding will have a great impact on future studies. Thus, it will be possible to reveal how bacteria develop mechanisms and become immune to drugs.

Research PNASIt was published in .