Too much of a good thing: Extra genes make bacteria lethal
Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 19:00
in Biology & Nature
This image shows small yellow dots surrounding bright yellow cell nuclei in each cell are Wolbachia. The cytoskeleton (in red) allows seeing the shape of the cells. We, as most animals, host many different beneficial bacteria. Being beneficial to the host often pays off for the bacteria, as success of the host determines the survival and spread of the microbe. But if bacteria grow too much they may become deadly. In a new study published in the latest edition of the scientific journal PLOS Biology*, a research team from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC; Portugal) found that a single genomic change can turn beneficial bacteria into pathogenic bacteria, by boosting bacterial density inside the host.