Bacteria Communicate By Touch

What if bacteria could talk to each other? What if they had a sense of touch? A new study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara suggests both, and theorizes that such cells may, in fact, need to communicate in order to perform certain functions. The findings appear today in the journal Genes & Development. Christopher Hayes, UCSB associate professor of molecular, cellular, and development biology, teamed with graduate students Elie Diner, Christina Beck, and Julia Webb to study uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), which causes urinary tract infections in humans. They discovered a sibling-like link between cell systems that have largely been thought of as rivals. The paper shows that bacteria expressing a contact – dependent growth inhibition system CDI – can inhibit bacteria without such a system only if the target bacteria have CysK, a metabolic enzyme required for synthesis of the amino acid cysteine. CysK is shown to bind to the CDI toxin – an enzyme that breaks RNA ó and activate it.

For a cell system typically thought of as existing only to kill other bacteria – as CDIs have largely been – the results are surprising, said Hayes, because they suggest that a CDI+ inhibitor cell has to get permission from its target in order to do the job. Read the full article »»»»

NDM-1, To Die For

The World Health Organisation - WHO – has issued a stark warning that the world is on the brink of a post-antibiotic Apocalypse with most common infections no longer having a cure.

There may be a new culprit in the crisis – NDM-1 – which makes bugs resistant to drugs was discovered in the drinking water of one of the world’s biggest cities, New Delhi. NDM-1 is now believed to be widespread throughout India and Pakistan.

WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan says ”The world is on the brink of losing these miracle cures, the emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens has accelerated.”

Last year – 2010 – 440,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis were detected, the malaria parasite has acquired complete resistance to treatment, evidence of resistance is also emerging to the Anti-Retro-Viral medicines used to treat  HIV.

“The world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era where common infections will once again kill unabated” said Chan. Read the full article »»»»