When E. coli detects damage to its genetic material, it sends out an SOS signal that alters activity inside the cells. "The bacteria go into full emergency mode," says PhD candidate Olaug Elisabeth Torheim Bergum at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Imagine that you have a very sore throat. You're sick, your throat hurts, and a visit to the doctor confirms that the pain is due to a bacterial infection. You get a prescription for antibiotics, which quickly sorts out your sore throat.
You are pleased that the treatment has worked – but how did the bacteria experience the situation? Antibiotic treatment causes damage to the bacteria. This damage can take the form of many different things, but it often involves damage to the genetic material, to the DNA, and activates an SOS response in the bacterium." Olaug Elisabeth Torheim Bergum, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, NTNU She has studied how the pathogenic bacterium Escherichia coli reacts when exposed to small, non-fatal amounts of the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin.
Ciprofloxacin is currently one of the most widely used antibiotics in the world, and works by attacking the DNA in the bacterial cells. "It binds to a protein that helps maintain the proper structure of the DNA, by cutting and splicing the DNA strands. This is necessary because copying and reading DNA creates stress on the DNA molecule," explains Bergum.
In other words, the protein keeps the DNA strand in order while the bacterial c.