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UW bacteria study could provide clue to controlling pathogens http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1233604326
Of the thousands of bacteria swimming inside you, relatively few are bent on destruction. Most busy themselves in a communal effort to keep you fit and free from disease - unless something changes.
Scientists have long wondered what causes harmful bacteria to cross the species barrier from animals to humans and what causes a good bacterium inside us to turn bad.
Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that a single gene can cause bacteria to change hosts. Light-emitting bacteria called Vibrio fischeri colonized pinecone fish, then jumped to the bobtail squid - all because of a regulatory gene, the scientists reported Sunday in the journal Nature.
The two species, found in the North Pacific off Japan, receive different benefits from the bacteria. Bobtail squid have used the bacteria to create a light that fools predators. For pinecone fish, a slightly different strain of V. fischeri provides a kind of flashlight into the dark recesses of its reef habitat.
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Your Quips:
Haley says: "I can't quite grok there's a species of fish called "pinecone fish." How cute!"
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'Doc Jim says:
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Me, I'd use mine to light up my little puptent!
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