Bacteria 'talk' each other to death

clipped from www.innovations-report.de A new peptide communication factor enabling bacteria to ‘talk to each other’ Discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers of a new communication factor that enables bacteria to “talk to each other” and causes their death could have significant consequences leading to development of a new class of antibiotic medications. The communication factor formed by Escherichia coli enables the activation of a built-in “suicide module” which is located on the bacterial chromosome and is esponsible for bacterial cell death under stressful conditions. Therefore, the new factor has been designated EDF (Extra-cellular Death Factor).