Gut Microbes Enable Coffee Pest to Withstand Extremely Toxic Concentrations of Caffeine
Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 10:30
in Biology & Nature
Scientists discovered that coffee berry borers worldwide share 14 bacterial species in their digestive tracts that degrade and detoxify caffeine. They also found the most prevalent of these bacteria has a gene that helps break down caffeine. Their research sheds light on the ecology of the destructive bug and could lead to new ways to fight it.