Work

Enantiomer sensing enables social avoidance by bacterial spores

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: spores. Spores thus avoid germination when sensing other species. By forcing germination in pairwise co-cultures, we show that the presence of another bacterial species is often detrimental to germinating spores. Spores thus appear to exploit the L-/D-alanine ratio as a social avoidance mechanism, revealing a benefit for enantiomer sensing and potential importance of amino acid handedness in ecosystems.

Source: iScience

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.114967

Authors: Colin J. Comerci, Todd Kwang-Tao Chou, Ramina Amino, Maja Bialecka, Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo, Gürol M. Süel

Institutions: University of California San Diego, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Language: English

Topic: Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,240