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MICROBIOLOGY: The Thin Line Between Gut Commensal and Pathogen
Michael S. Gilmore and Joseph J. Ferretti
Are gut microbes man's best friend? They certainly seem to be, as the bacterial flora of the human gut benefit us by breaking down the complex carbohydrates in our food. However, sometimes certain bacterial strains acquire new traits, including antibiotic resistance and turn against us, resulting in serious infections. In their Perspective, Gilmore and Ferretti discuss the genome sequences of two important gut bacteria, a commensal and a "commensal turned bad" and the secrets they hold about the lifestyles of these two important species (Xu et al., Paulsen et al.).
M. S. Gilmore is in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Microbiology and at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. E-mail: michael-gilmore{at}ouhsc.edu J. J. Ferretti is in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73190, USA. E-mail: joe-ferretti{at}ouhsc.edu
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In Science Magazine
REPORTS
I. T. Paulsen, L. Banerjei, G. S. A. Myers, K. E. Nelson, R. Seshadri, T. D. Read, D. E. Fouts, J. A. Eisen, S. R. Gill, J. F. Heidelberg, H. Tettelin, R. J. Dodson, L. Umayam, L. Brinkac, M. Beanan, S. Daugherty, R. T. DeBoy, S. Durkin, J. Kolonay, R. Madupu, W. Nelson, J. Vamathevan, B. Tran, J. Upton, T. Hansen, J. Shetty, H. Khouri, T. Utterback, D. Radune, K. A. Ketchum, B. A. Dougherty, and C. M. Fraser (28 March 2003) Science299 (5615), 2071.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1080613] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »|Supporting Online Material »
REPORTS
Jian Xu, Magnus K. Bjursell, Jason Himrod, Su Deng, Lynn K. Carmichael, Herbert C. Chiang, Lora V. Hooper, and Jeffrey I. Gordon (28 March 2003) Science299 (5615), 2074.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1080029] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »|Supporting Online Material »
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