Stressed bacteria

Believe it or not, bacteria also get stressed out. One kind of stress can be a change in temperature, as we described on the Cold Bacteria page. But another common source of stress is the presence of sublethal doses of antibiotics.Bacteria can become resistant to certain antibiotics by surviving exposure to them and then conferring resistance to other bacteria by reproducing or exchanging genetic information. This is why antibiotic resistance is a major threat in the medical community, where people rely on antibiotics to kill harmful bacteria. This is also why you should only take antibiotics when they are needed and finish off the doctor's prescription.

The mechanisms that allow bacteria to respond to a stress can help them become resistant to future stresses. This can lead to resistance to future stresses, and possibly to a new "attack" by antibiotics. This begs the question: do bacteria have a memory?

Interesting....