Credit: John Innes Centre
Research has identified critical factors that enable dangerous bacteria to spread disease by surviving on surfaces in hospitals and kitchens.
The study into the mechanisms which enable the opportunistic human pathogen
Pseudomonas aeruginosa to survive on surfaces, could lead to new ways of targeting harmful bacteria.
To survive outside their host, pathogenic bacteria must withstand various environmental stresses. One mechanism is the sugar molecule, trehalose, which is associated with a range of external stresses, particularly osmotic shock - sudden changes to the salt concentration surrounding cells.
Researchers at the John Innes Centre analysed how trehalose is metabolised by