PMID:21764748

Citation	Kralj, JM, Hochbaum, DR, Douglass, AD and Cohen, AE (2011) Electrical spiking in Escherichia coli probed with a fluorescent voltage-indicating protein. Science 333:345-8
Abstract	Bacteria have many voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels, and population-level measurements indicate that membrane potential is important for bacterial survival. However, it has not been possible to probe voltage dynamics in an intact bacterium. Here we developed a method to reveal electrical spiking in Escherichia coli. To probe bacterial membrane potential, we engineered a voltage-sensitive fluorescent protein based on green-absorbing proteorhodopsin. Expression of the proteorhodopsin optical proton sensor (PROPS) in E. coli revealed electrical spiking at up to 1 hertz. Spiking was sensitive to chemical and physical perturbations and coincided with rapid efflux of a small-molecule fluorophore, suggesting that bacterial efflux machinery may be electrically regulated.
Links	PubMed Online version:10.1126/science.1204763
Keywords	Action Potentials; Escherichia coli/genetics; Escherichia coli/physiology; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Ion Channels/metabolism; Ion Transport; Light; Membrane Potentials; Protons; Rhodamines/metabolism; Rhodopsin/chemistry; Rhodopsin/genetics; Rhodopsin/metabolism; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Stress, Physiological
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