Sanika Vaidya: From Chatterbox to 'Chatterbug

Dr. Sanika Vaidya is a microbiologist with six years of experience researching bacterial signaling systems, biofilm formation, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). She is passionate about research for developing new antimicrobials.

Sanika studied microbiology at Fergusson College, Pune, as an undergraduate student (B.Sc) in 2012-2015. She received her Master’s degree (MRes Biomedical Research) from Imperial College London in 2016. Her doctoral research, based on biofilm formation in bacterial pathogens, was conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the Philipps University Marburg in 2021. Sanika has received scholarships such as the JNCASR SRF (2013), Khorana Scholarship (2014), and Inlaks Shivdasani Fellowship (2015) that financed her research internships and postgraduate education. She also received funding from the Max Planck Group for the first two years of her Ph.D. (2016-2018).

Career Story

Have you ever been called a ‘chatterbox’ as a child? My nature to yap on and on with my friends often resulted in my father jokingly calling me a chatterbox (especially when I tied up the phone for too long!). Talking, texting, IM-ing, DM-ing, tweeting, WhatsApp-ing are only a few of the communication channels that we use to transfer our thoughts and ideas to the world. It has been shown that communication (most importantly, gossip) is vital for the sustainment of society (1). But it is not just humans that thrive on staying in touch. Although seemingly primitive, bacteria live in communities whose foundation is based on sensing signals from the environment and from their neighbours (2). Although I initially took communication for granted, I came to realise how important it is on so many different levels: evolutionarily, socially, educationally, and later even, therapeutically. This is my story from being a chatterbox to studying bacteria who love to talk (fondly called ‘chatterbugs’).

An initial interest in biology at school led me to an internship in a laboratory at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, where I was introduced to the world of microbes. During my B.Sc at Fergusson College, I continued to pursue laboratory internships over the next three summers, working in different institutes and on different aspects of microbial research. With each project, I learned more about bacteria and it bolstered my love for the subject. During a notable summer at Indiana University (funded by the Khorana Scholar Exchange Program), I came to know that bacteria ‘talk’ to each other, to regulate their behaviour! From then onwards, bacterial communication has been a central theme of the research projects that I have been associated with.

The year of 2016 was especially memorable for me. I had been selected at Imperial College London for a Master’s program (funded by the Inlaks Shivdasani Fellowship). These milestones marked a new beginning. At Imperial, I contributed to the discovery of a new antibiotic resistance mechanism that utilised bacterial communication (3). This work sealed my motivation to study the role of communication in bacterial populations.

During my Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, I observed danger sensing in bacteria. Bacterial cells were able to sense the presence of dead cells in their vicinity, which provided a clue for approaching danger. This type of communication triggered the secretion of compounds that enabled them to create gated communities, called biofilms, and helped them survive the attack of bacteria-eating viruses (called bacteriophages) (4). This work is a forerunner in the process of the development of a therapeutic method to utilise bacteriophages for killing disease-causing bacteria, also known as ‘phage therapy’.

“Bacteria ‘talk’ to each other, to regulate their behaviour!”

Understanding the importance of bacterial sensing has been the focus of my research until now. Communication strengthens ties in society- both human and bacterial. My next focus is to explore whether the severing of these ties helps us break down communities of bacteria that are harmful to us. Or on the flip side, can enhancing bacterial communication of our resident gut bacteria aid in preventing dangerous invaders?

Bacteria have always been our fellow residents, some beneficial, others doing us harm. Over time, we developed ways to fight back against disease-causing bacteria, but bacteria have been able to adapt too, creating an arms race. Since the introduction of antibiotics, we have been driving faster evolution of bacteria, creating antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Now, the hunt is on for new therapeutics. I am thrilled to be a part of the community striving for a better understanding of how bacteria behave so that we may stay ahead in this battle. To enhance our understanding of bacterial chatter requires us to keep talking. Collaborative projects enhance our knowledge of host-bacterial interactions and pave a path for the development of therapeutic strategies. Want to know more about bacterial talk? – let’s have a chat!

References

Robbins ML, Karan A. Who Gossips and How in Everyday Life? Social Psychological and Personality Science11(2):185-195 (2020)
Greenberg, E. Bacterial communication: Tiny teamwork. Nature 424, 134 (2003)
Pader V, Hakim S, Painter KL, Wigneshweraraj S, Clarke TB, Edwards AM. Staphylococcus aureus inactivates daptomycin by releasing membrane phospholipids. Nat Microbiol 2, 16194 (2017).
Vaidya S, Hansen MF, Singh PK, Jelli E, Nosho K, Jeckel H, Drescher K. Bacteria use exogenous peptidoglycan fragments as a danger signal to trigger protective biofilm formation. in progress

Edited by: Dolly Singh

Sanika Vaidya: From Chatterbox to 'Chatterbug

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