Talking Bacteria

Food poisoning in the United States has been a big news item these past few weeks. The Centers for Disease Control have reported that many more people (76 million incidents per year) get food poisoning than they had previously reported (Read an article about this report in The Scientist). One of the common causes of food poisoning is a group of bacteria called the Salmonella. These bacteria can give you a nasty case of fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and cramps. Sometimes in very severe cases a person infected with Salmonella must be hospitalized.

To top it all off we are now finding that these nasty little bacteria can communicate with each other. A United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) article talks in more detail about how these bacteria talk to each other. One of the researchers states that bacterial communication between certain Salmonella can enhance their ability to grow as much as a hundredfold and signals cells to produce molecules that increase their ability to cause disease.

For more information on how these bacteria can talk with each other go to the USDA article. Sorry this article is so short. Believe it or not, life in Kirksville Missouri has been hopping.

Take Care and Think Microbiologically!

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