Social behavior of bacteria: from physics to complex organization |
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Authors: | E Ben-Jacob |
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Institution: | (1) School of Physics and Astronomy Raymond & Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel;(2) The Center for Theoretical and Biological Physics University of California San Diego La JollaLa Jolla, California, 92093, USA |
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Abstract: | I describe how bacteria develop complex colonial patterns by utilizing intricate communication capabilities, such as quorum
sensing, chemotactic signaling and exchange of genetic information (plasmids) Bacteria do not store genetically all the information
required for generating the patterns for all possible environments. Instead, additional information is cooperatively generated
as required for the colonial organization to proceed. Each bacterium is, by itself, a biotic autonomous system with its own
internal cellular informatics capabilities (storage, processing and assessments of information). These afford the cell certain
plasticity to select its response to biochemical messages it receives, including self-alteration and broadcasting messages
to initiate alterations in other bacteria. Hence, new features can collectively emerge during self-organization from the intra-cellular
level to the whole colony. Collectively bacteria store information, perform decision make decisions (e.g. to sporulate) and
even learn from past experience (e.g. exposure to antibiotics)-features we begin to associate with bacterial social behavior
and even rudimentary intelligence. I also take Schrdinger’s’ “feeding on negative entropy” criteria further and propose that,
in addition organisms have to extract latent information embedded in the environment. By latent information we refer to the
non-arbitrary spatio-temporal patterns of regularities and variations that characterize the environmental dynamics. In other
words, bacteria must be able to sense the environment and perform internal information processing for thriving on latent information
embedded in the complexity of their environment. I then propose that by acting together, bacteria can perform this most elementary
cognitive function more efficiently as can be illustrated by their cooperative behavior. |
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Keywords: | PACS" target="_blank">PACS 87 10 -e General theory and mathematical aspects 87 18 -h Multicellular phenomena 87 18 Fx Multicellular phenomena biofilms 87 18 Gh Cell-cell communication collective behavior of motile cells |
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