Production of sound waves by bacterial cells and the response of bacterial cells to sound

  • Michio Matsuhashi
  • , Alla N. Pankrushina
  • , Satoshi Takeuchi
  • , Hideyuki Ohshima
  • , Housaku Miyoi
  • , Katsura Endoh
  • , Ken Murayama
  • , Hiroshi Watanabe
  • , Shigeo Endo
  • , Mikio Tobi
  • , Yoshihiro Mano
  • , Masao Hyodo
  • , Torakichi Kobayashi
  • , Tomohiko Kaneko
  • , Sugio Otani
  • , Susumu Yoshimura
  • , Akira Harata
  • , Tsuguo Sawada

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    65 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Bacterial cells enhance the proliferation of neighboring cells under stress conditions by emitting a physical signal. Continuous single sine sound waves produced by a speaker at frequencies of 6-10, 18-22, and 28-38 kHz promoted colony formation by Bacillus carboniphilus under non-permissive stress conditions of high KCl concentration and high temperature. Furthermore, sound waves emitted from cells of Bacillus subtilis at frequencies between 8 and 43 kHz with broad peaks at approximately 8.5, 19, 29, and 37 kHz were detected using a sensitive microphone system. The similarity between the frequency of the sound produced by B. subtilis and the frequencies that induced a response in B. carboniphilus and the previously observed growth-promoting effect of B. subtilis cells upon B. carboniphilus through iron barriers, suggest that the detected sound waves function as a growth-regulatory signal between cells.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)49-55
    Number of pages7
    JournalJournal of General and Applied Microbiology
    Volume44
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1998

    All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

    • Microbiology
    • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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