The study found that L. monocytogenes is an incredibly hardy and adaptable bacteria. It can survive with or without oxygen, and it reproduces within its host’s cells, which is bad news. But where it gets nuts is how it reacts to the human immune system’s attempts to destroy it. The researchers say it produces special proteins that allow it to invade human cells. And those proteins alert the body’s immune system. But listeria listens to the human body and produces only enough of these proteins as needed: if attacking human immune cells are around, it’ll produce fewer proteins to avoid being detected, almost like a gangster using a silencer on a gun. The listeria cell can also, unusually for bacteria, figure out when it’s being attacked by antibiotics, and repair its own cell walls while being attacked. It managed to defy or resist all kinds of treatment, from antibiotics to ethanol to bile.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 00:19:15 +0000
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