Department of Physics and Center for Nonlinear Dynamics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
J Cell Sci. 2019 Apr 3;132(7):jcs227694. doi: 10.1242/jcs.227694.
Whether bacteria are in the planktonic state, free-swimming or free-floating in liquid, or in the biofilm state, sessile on surfaces, they are always subject to mechanical forces. The long, successful evolutionary history of bacteria implies that they are capable of adapting to varied mechanical forces, and probably even actively respond to mechanical cues in their changing environments. However, the sensing of mechanical cues by bacteria, or bacterial mechanosensing, has been under-investigated. This leaves the mechanisms underlying how bacteria perceive and respond to mechanical cues largely unknown. In this Review, we first examine the surface-associated behavior of bacteria, outline the clear evidence for bacterial mechanosensing and summarize the role of flagella, type-IV pili, and envelope proteins as potential mechanosensors, before presenting indirect evidence for mechanosensing in bacteria. The general themes underlying bacterial mechanosensing that we highlight here may provide a framework for future research.
无论细菌处于浮游状态、自由游动或在液体中自由漂浮，还是处于生物膜状态、附着在表面上，它们始终会受到机械力的作用。细菌具有悠久而成功的进化历史，这意味着它们能够适应各种机械力，并且可能会主动对其不断变化的环境中的机械线索做出反应。然而，细菌对机械线索的感知（即细菌机械感觉）尚未得到充分研究。这使得细菌感知和响应机械线索的机制在很大程度上仍然未知。在这篇综述中，我们首先研究了细菌的表面相关行为，概述了明确的细菌机械感觉证据，并总结了鞭毛、IV 型菌毛和包膜蛋白作为潜在机械感受器的作用，然后提出了细菌机械感觉的间接证据。我们在这里强调的细菌机械感觉的一般主题可能为未来的研究提供框架。
