Small Worlds

Like flatmates, bacteria which live in the same space can have complicated and ever-changing relationships. These can depend on the species of bacteria, other substances in the environment, and many other things. Species can live peacefully alongside each other, but sometimes conditions change and cause one to take over. With bacteria living inside us, one particular species becoming too abundant can cause disease. A recently developed method can help us understand changing relationships between bacterial species. Characteristics of a patch (colony) of bacteria, such as size and shape, are automatically measured. The colonies shown here are bacteria normally found in the human lung. Scientists found that adding benzo[a]pyrene, a chemical found in cigarettes, caused one species of bacteria to inhibit the growth of another, whereas normally it would enhance it. This can help us understand how we change the balance of the tiny ecosystems inside us.

Written by Esther Redhouse White

Esther Redhouse White

Writer

A recent Biochemistry graduate from York, Esther has worked on bacterial killing proteins and genetic switches in worms. In her spare time she likes visiting museums full of skeletons.

• Image from work by Angela Liu and Anne M. Archer, and colleagues
• Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS One, March 2017