Disease-causing bacteria of the genus Salmonella or Yersinia can use tiny injection apparatuses to inject harmful proteins into host cells, much to the discomfo
Pathogenic bacteria use molecular shuttle services to fill their injection apparatus with the right product phys.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phys.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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IMAGE: In order to increase survival chances in contact to eukaryotic host cells, both symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria have developed methods to influence host cell behavior. The type III secretion system. view more
Credit: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Basic, acidic, basic again: for pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, the human digestive tract is a sea change. So how do the bacteria manage to react to these changes? A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg led by Andreas Diepold has now provided a possible explanation: pathogenic bacteria can change components of their injection apparatus on the fly - like changing the tires on a moving car - to enable a rapid response.