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Home > News & Reports > Daily Briefing > Bacteria Switch Identified

MAY 11, 1999

Bacteria Switch Identified

Scientists have discovered a " switch " in bacteria that helps trigger

infection, a finding that could lead to treatments designed to turn off this

switch and prevent illness.

Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara say a

gene found in salmonella called DAM creates a protein that activates other

genes to begin infection. This process appears to only occur once the

salmonella is inside a host, in the intestines of a human or animal, for

example. Outside a host, the DAM gene is inactive, researchers say.

Their research shows that when DAM is knocked out, salmonella is

unable to infect the host. Salmonella is a major source of food poisoning in

humans and is often contracted by consuming undercooked chicken or eggs, or

other contaminated foods.

The researchers also report in the May 7 issue of Science that once

the inactivated salmonella is inside a host, it acts like a vaccine, causing

the host's immune system to create antibodies that attack the altered

salmonella. They say this discovery could lead to vaccines and more

effective antibiotics that would deactivate the gene. Many diseases caused

by bacteria have become more resistant to antibiotics in recent years.

Daily Briefings by Katrina Woznicki

http://onhealth.com/ch1/briefs/item,39814.asp

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