How diarrhea pathogens switch into attack mode at body temperature
(PHYSorg.com Medicine & Health)

Many bacterial pathogens excrete toxins as soon as they have entered the host in order to suppress its immune response. Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have analyzed what happens on the molecular level when the diarrhea pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis switches into attack mode. To this end, they examined so-called RNA thermometers, which signal to the bacteria whether they are in the host. In collaboration with colleagues from the Helmholtz Institute for Infection Research in Braunschweig, they also showed that bacteria with deactivated RNA thermometers can no longer trigger an infection. The journal Plos Pathogens reports about the study.