Intracellular and extracellular components as bacterial thermometers, and early warning against thermal stress.

Abstract

Responses induced by cold or heat are triggered following detection of temperature changes by specific sensing molecules, complexes or structures. Low temperature responses are often induced following sensing of cold-induced falls in membrane fluidity, such changes turning-on or -off enzymic activities in membrane proteins, although ribosomes and DNA may also function in cold perception. Many thermal sensors are components of structures damaged by the heat, with sensing involving changes to ribosomes, DNA, intracellular proteins and, less commonly, membrane fluidity. Additionally, secreted proteins (extracellular sensing components, ESCs) detect temperature increases i.e. act as thermometers, with ESC activation in the medium, by the stimulus, converting such sensors to extracellular signalling molecules, the extracellular induction components (EICs), which induce thermal responses. Several ESC/EIC pairs trigger thermal responses, and have the unique property of giving early warning of the stress by diffusing to regions (and organisms) not yet exposed to elevated temperatures.