Australian seaweed blocks bacteria signals
10 December 2004
by Richard
Conan-Davies
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A seaweed found along the Australian coast seems to contain a clever chemical trick to avoid getting covered in bacteria. This chemical trick is a substance called furanones which block bacteria talking with each other. A team from the University of New South Wales showed that when the bacteria that cause cholera &endash; Vibrio cholerae &endash; are exposed to furanones, they cannot switch on their ability to hide from the immune system which is why cholera is so devestating. Dr Diane McDougald, who led the study, explained that "The fact that furanones prevent bacterial communication means that they may be effective against a wide range of bacteria that have communication systems, such as the bacteria that cause golden Staph infections and tuberculosis," |
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