With a microbe-produced toxin, bacteria prove old dogs can learn new tricks
Saturday, October 20, 2018 - 20:00
in Biology & Nature
In the ongoing chemical battles among bacteria and their microbial neighbors, a new toxin has been uncovered. This unfamiliar toxin behaves in a familiar way. Its actions against other bacteria resemble the mechanisms of cholera, pertussis and diphtheria toxins. Some bacteria deploying this toxin have safeguards against self-poisoning.