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Article: Predatory bacterial swarm uses rippling motion to reach prey.
- Article from:
- Biotech Week
- Article date:
- November 12, 2008
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Oct. 29, 2008
Like something from a horror movie, the swarm of bacteria ripples purposefully toward their prey, devours it and moves on (see also University of Iowa).
Researchers at the University of Iowa are studying this behavior in Myxococcus xanthus (M. xanthus), a bacterium commonly found in soil, which preys on other bacteria.
Despite its deadly role in the bacterial world, M. xanthus is harmless to humans and might one day be used beneficially to destroy harmful bacteria on surfaces or in human infections, said John Kirby, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.
"It ...