Soil Bacteria Kill Insects With a Toxin Related to Diphtheria
Source ↗
👁 0
💬 0
Scoop up a handful of garden soil and you are almost certainly holding billions of Streptomyces bacteria. They are among the most abundant organisms on the planet, responsible for that petrichor smell after rain, and they have been quietly manufacturing antibiotics, anticancer drugs, and immunosuppressants for millions of years before we learned to harvest them. Scientists thought they had a reasonable handle on what these microbes get up to. They were, mostly, beneficial. Helpful. Mutualistic.
Comments (0)