Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Cells, Microbes & Viruses => Topic started by: thedoc on 25/02/2011 14:06:21
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Microbial warfare is constantly happening all around us, and often humans can reap the benefits if the right bacteria are fighting our corner. One such species, Photorhabdus luminescens, harbours a secret weapon...it glows...
Read the article (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/angel-glow/) then tell us what you think...
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Sweet!
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To say that Photorhabdus luminescens is harmless in humans is completely false. Not only is it capable of infecting people, it can cause severe infections. I am aware of at least 12 published case reports of known Photorhabdus luminescens infections several of which required intensive hospital care and one where there was colonization identified in a patient's sputum.
You need to be more careful about what you publish. The facts on Photorhabdus luminescens are easily discovered using a simple Google query.
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Nathan,
There are publications that specifically say Photorhabdus luminescens is linked to these infections; however, this is not the case. Upon genetic squencing, these cases were actually caused by a newly identified species of Photorhabdus, Photorhabdus asymbiotica. P. asymbiotica is also luminescent when cultured in the clinical laboratory. The nematode host carrying this bacteria was recently (< 2 years ago) discovered in Austrailia.