By Angie Orellana Hernandez, CNN
New research has shown that an everyday item in the kitchen is a better place for many types of bacteria than a lab petri dish.
A common sponge’s spatial partitioning — the way it’s divided into different sectors of various sizes — caters to bacteria that prefer isolated environments and those that prefer to be around other organisms, making it the best of both worlds for microbial communities, According to a study published in Nature Chemical Biology. Bacteria that thrive in secluded spaces, like the smaller pores of a sponge, won’t “bully” other organisms for room, while the sponge’s bigger wells allow for microbes that depend on the presence of others to survive.
“It’s just like we are going to parties and there are individuals who will really enjoy having huge room interactions with a lot of people, and it will draw energy from that,” said the study’s senior author Lingchong You, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University in North Carolina. “But there are also individuals who feel like they want to be in a smaller environment.”
These results may help to understand why your kitchen sponge is a breeding ground for germs. However the purpose of this research was to develop a method to engineer diverse microbial communities capable of producing chemicals of medicinal or technological value.
Home sweet home
Researchers used two methods to test E.coli density and presence to arrive at these conclusions. They used plates with varied spatial partitioning levels, from six to 1,536 isolated water wells. The plates revealed that bacteria thrives in areas with high levels of division.
Researchers then did another experiment with a tube and a kitchen sponge. The results revealed that in a sponge, there are “60% more diverse members than in a well-mixed environment,” You said, referencing the compacted habitat bacteria are in when placed inside a tube.
“The degree of this spatial partitioning plays a critical role in maintaining the microbial community diversity,” You said. “And it could be that the optimal degree of partitioning also depends on the nature of interactions in a particular community (of bacteria).”
They concluded that environments with a mixture of small wells and large chambers are the best for diverse microbial communities.
Because sponges are a “perfect growth environment for microbes,” You recommended that consumers be “mindful” and replace their sponges on a periodic basis or find a way to disinfect them. According to a recommendation, sponges should be replaced on a weekly schedule.Scientific Reports published a 2017 study. To sterilize bacteria from sponges, use theThe United States Department of Agriculture suggestsCustomers use microwave heating and dishwashing, along with a drying cycle.
The results provide an understanding of the microbial point of view where “distances and spaces are dramatically different” from a human’s point of view, said Slava Epstein, a professor of microbiology at Northeastern University, who was not involved with the study. Epstein stated that researchers can better understand the impact of scale on microbial interactions by studying the distance between cells. This distance is measured in microns.
Nature’s microbiological communities
Epstein added that a “natural extension” of this research would be to examine the role of spatial partitioning in nature, such as how bacteria work in soil, since the bacteria used in the study were grown artificially and controlled by researchers.
“Working with well plates clearly indicates a very significant role in the size of compartments they can grow and whether or not there is a separation between such compartments,” Epstein said. “Once we know this, it gives you ammunition and drive to go after actual natural communities.”
Although the study does not prove spatial partitioning’s effect on natural microbial communities, You said that he is optimistic that the results will remain consistent. Researchers are interested in working with natural microbial communities. However, You stated that these bacteria must first learn to live together.
“One member will control one step of the pathway, another member will control another step of the pathway,” You said. “But in order for this to work, they will need to co-exist, so we need to maintain their diversity, and then we’re using this partitioned environment, precisely to help maintain different members.”
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