Bacterial intelligence: imitation games, time-sharing, and long-range quantum coherence

Abstract

Bacteria are far more intelligent than we can think of. They adopt different survival strategies to make their life comfortable. Researches on bacterial communication to date suggest that bacteria can communicate with each other using chemical signaling molecules as well as using ion channel mediated electrical signaling. Though in past few decades the scopes of chemical signaling have been investigated extensively, those of electrical signaling have received less attention. In this article, we present a novel perspective on time-sharing behavior, which maintains the biofilm growth under reduced nutrient supply between two distant biofilms through electrical signaling based on the experimental evidence reported by Liu et al., in 2017. In addition, following the recent work by Humphries et al. Cell 168(1):200-209, in 2017, we highlight the consequences of long range electrical signaling within biofilm communities through spatially propagating waves of potassium. Furthermore, we address the possibility of two-way cellular communication between artificial and natural cells through chemical signaling being inspired by recent experimental observation (Lentini et al. 2017) where the efficiency of artificial cells in imitating the natural cells is estimated through cellular Turing test. These three spectacular observations lead us to envisage and devise new classical and quantum views of these complex biochemical networks that have never been realized previously.

The resolution of ambiguity as the basis for life: A cellular bridge between Western reductionism and Eastern holism

“…Initially, primitive cells interacted with their environment in a limited manner in continuing compliance with the First Laws of Physiology (Torday and Rehan, 2012). Since evolution can be defined as the aggregate of its communications directed towards problem-solving (De Loof, 2015a), it might be surmised that the reciprocating complexity of cellular networks may have arisen as a defensive mechanism against the organized pseudo-multicellular behaviors of bacteria, such as quorum sensing (Castillo-Juárez et al, 2015) and biofilm (Majumdar and Pal, 2017). This coordinate problem solving by the three cellular forms (Bacteria, Archeae, Eukaryota), would have provided complementary, interdependent interchanges that gradually gave rise to the complex physiologic traits of multicellular organisms.…”

Bacterial communication and relevance of quantum theory

“…It has been observed that some Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria live in organized communities [1]. This bacterial communities are glued together by extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), which is called a biofilms [2]. Bacteria in biofilm communities can communicate to each other in two different ways.…”

“…When a thresh-old concentration of the signaling molecules is achieved, a coordinated change in bacterial collective behavior is initiated. This bacterial collective behavior is known as quorum sensing by which bacterial cell integrate in order to determine their optimal survival stagey [1,2]. Quorum sensing coordinate the gene expression, when the bacterial cell population has reached a high cell density.…”

“…Quorum sensing is responsible for mediating a variety of social activities in biofilms, which include the swarming motility, biofilm dispersion, biofilm growth and antimicrobial resistance etc. It is found that quorum sensing regulating EPS production during biofilm formation [2]. Bacterial biofilms are very organized communities which contain billions of densely packed bacterial cell.…”

“…Bacterial biofilms are very organized communities which contain billions of densely packed bacterial cell. Recent studies show that apart from using chemical molecules, bacteria can communicate over a long distances which is enabled by bacterial ion channels [2].This electrical communication within bacterial communities occur through spatially propagating waves of potassium [2]. Cells insides the biofilm communities can cooperate and compete with each other for resources.…”