Some bacteria use viruses to become superbugs

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Riding the Virus

January 05, 2011

 

Viruses that infect bacteria, or phages, inject their DNA into bacterial hosts

and use them to create more and more phages until the hosts die. But bacteria,

which have evolved to resist many antibiotics, have also learned to use the

phages to their own advantage and become " superbugs, " says Not Exactly Rocket

Science's Ed Yong. By adding the viruses' DNA to their own genome, these

bacteria have become able to withstand harsh environments and immune to any

drugs that might previously have killed them. In order to find out exactly how

this virus DNA was affecting the bacteria, Texas A & M University's Xiaoxue Wang

— whose study appears in Nature Communications — snipped it out of an E.

coli culture and found that without this extra DNA, the bacteria lived and grew

but was unable to deal with " difficult conditions, " Yong says. " They became up

to 400 times more sensitive to antibiotics. They succumbed more readily to

extremely salty or acidic conditions.

And they were almost completely unable to form biofilms. " This could lead to

finding new ways to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant to drugs, Yong

adds.

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" I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical. Even God had

some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin. " ~ Jerry Newport