The harmful and potentially deadly bacterium Listeria is extremely good at adapting to changes. Now research from University of Southern Denmark uncovers exactly how cunning Listeria is and why it is so hard to fight. The discovery can help develop more efficient ways to combat the bacteria.
“Generally speaking, Listeria must be described as extremely adaptable. It is constantly aware of its surroundings and if the environment changes around it. It reacts instantly and has a number of strategies to withstand threats”, says Birgitte Kallipolitis.
The researchers also discovered that listeria is an expert at not attracting unwanted attention from the body’s immune system.
“On the one hand, Listeria needs to produce some special proteins that enable it to infect the cells in our body. On the other hand, it must ensure that the body’s immune system does not detect these proteins. It is vital for Listeria to keep a balance between producing enough of these proteins but not so many that they are detected by the immune system – and it masters just that”, explains Birgitte Kallipolitis.
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