Access

News and Views

Nature 432, 680-681 (9 December 2004) | doi:10.1038/432680a; Published online 8 December 2004

Open Innovation Challenges

naturejobs

More science jobs
Post a job for free

Microbiology:  Jekyll or hide?

George A. O'Toole1

Top

Many bacteria can adopt different lifestyles: in a free-living state, they are virulent and cause disease; in a surface-attached community, they are less virulent but may go unnoticed. How is this 'decision' made?

In the November issue of Developmental Cell, Goodman and colleagues1 report the identification of a regulatory system in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa that determines whether it causes disease or lies low and simply persists. This bacterium is of interest to the medical community because of its ability to infect people whose immune system is damaged, who have sustained serious burns or an eye injury, or who suffer from cystic fibrosis.

  1. George A. O'Toole is in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.
    e-mail: Email: georgeo@dartmouth.edu

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Microbiology Jekyll or hide?

Nature News and Views (09 Dec 2004)

Microbiology A resistance switch

Nature News and Views (18 Apr 2002)

Biofilms strike back

Nature Biotechnology News and Views (01 Nov 2005)

RESEARCH

A genetic basis for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm antibiotic resistance

Nature Letters to Editor (20 Nov 2003)