微生物并不是孤立的个体，它们的个体间存在着广泛的信息通讯。这些信息通讯可以使微生物群体产生协作性的社会行为。我们的前期工作发现酿酒酵母在受到DNA损伤胁迫的时候会预警周围的细胞，激活周围细胞的DNA损伤修复相关基因表达，暗示酵母细胞存在细胞间通讯传递DNA损伤胁迫信息。目前，关于这种通讯的具体过程和分子机制还不清楚。本研究将结合单细胞技术，对酿酒酵母DNA损伤胁迫下的细胞间通讯进行深入研究，明确该通讯的各种特征，分离和鉴定通讯的信号分子，解析通讯中的信号传导途径，研究这种细胞间通讯是否具有普遍性，评估其在进化上的优势。本研究将回答这种全新的微生物细胞间通讯的基本科学问题，丰富我们对社会微生物学的认识，实现理论上的突破。同时该研究也为肿瘤的发生和抗药性产生的机制提供新的研究思路。

Microorganisms do not exist as solitary cells, but communicate with one another via a variety of means. Such communications facilitate microorganisms to cooperate with each other on social behaviors. Our previous study showed that the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, forewarned neighbor cells of possible harm and promoted the expression of specific genes related with DNA damage repair in neighbor cells when they responded to DNA-damaging stress , indicating that a cell-to-cell communication under DNA-damaging stress exists. Currently, the details and molecular mechanisms of this communication remain to be discovered. In this project, we will devise single-cell approaches to deeply characterize this communication, isolate and identify the signal molecules for communication, examine the possible signal transduction pathway, determine the conservation of this communication in microbes and evaluate its selective advantage during evolution. This study will provide answers to many questions regarding to the novel cell-to-cell communication, enable us better understanding the complexities of sociomirobiology. Moreover, the conclusions from this project would possibly lead to new ideas for our understanding of tumorigenesis and tumor drug resistance.