Bobtail squid trap Vibrio Fischeri bacteria to stay alive, this strain of bacteria is related to the Flesh-Eating bacteria.
Bobtail squid are a group of cephalopods closely related to cuttlefish. These little guys stay alive by trapping a special kind of bacteria. Scientists are a little confused about how the Bobtail squid is able to do that but new research could shed some light on on why some people are prone to contracting the closely related flesh-eating bacteria.
The Bobtail squid, like many other oceanic life live with a bacteria called bioluminescence. This helps oceanic life like the Bobtail squid produce and emit light. They are able to do by keeping a little Homogenous colony of luminescent bacteria-in this case Vibrio Fischeri. The bread of squid only cultivate and use this one kind of bacteria.
Researchers at University of Wisconsin conducted experiments on how the squid attracts the bacteria in the first place. According to a recent report in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. What they found is that the Vibrio Fischeri bacteria have sensors that allow them detect the presence of short and mid chain aliphatic compounds or fatty acids.
These fatty acids consist of a molecule of carboxylic acid attached to a long chain of carbon atoms which are surrounded by hydrogen atoms. The membranes of cells are made of fatty acids.
When scientists lowered a vial of fatty acids into water with Vibrio Fischeri, the bacteria clustered around the vial. What was also observed is that if more fatty acids were in the vial, there would be more Vibrio Fischeri flocking around it.
The researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison observed that, “While chemotaxis greatly enhances the efficiency of host colonization by V. fischeri, fatty acids do not appear to be used as a chemical cue during this stage of the symbiosis.”
However, this does not mean that the study was unimportant. The bacteria has two close relatives, the Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus. The Vibrio cholerae causes cholera while Vibrio vulnificus causes necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria syndrome.
If scientists can find a way to repel this strain of bacteria then it could save many people's lives. About 600 to 700 cases are diagnosed in the U.S. alone and about 25 to 30 percent of those cases result in death.
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