Scientists Discover a Bacteria's Suicide Program

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg discovered proteins in bacteria that can help them survive or die. These proteins are collectively known as PezAT (pneumococcal epsilon zeta antitoxin toxin) system, which is a toxin/antitoxin system of the pathogenic bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae. These bacteria are notorius for causing various illness such as pneumonia, septicaemia, and meningitis.

The team of scientists headed by Anton Meinhart explained the molecular mechanism of the zeta toxins using the model bacterium Escherichia coli. They observed that bacterial cells with activated PezT showed symptoms of poisoning similar to those occurring after treatment with antibiotic penicillin, wherein at the initial stage of the poisoning, the cells were stuck at the division stage, then after some time, the intersection between the two cell bodies burst and the cells die. They later found that the toxin inhibits the growth of bacterial cell wall, that made it to burst and die. This new finding could be an important tool towards the development of new broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Read more information at http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001036;jsessionid=92A26A48D718EFED89E6DF72C14793EA.ambra01