A new study which was performed jointly at Umeå university
and the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, discovered that bacteria can
degrade the cell membrane of bacterial competitors with enzymes that do not
harm their own membrane. This exciting finding opens the way for the
development of new antibacterial drugs to fight bacteria using their own
weapons. (NATURE, 2013).
During the infection of a host organism, pathogenic bacteria
can excrete toxins that cause damage to host cells and tissue. Interestingly,
bacteria also use similar mechanisms in competition with one another. Notably,
they can use secretion systems with syringe-like structures to inject the
toxins into other cells. Among the different secretion systems that are known
in bacteria, the type VI secretion system is of particular importance to
interbacterial competition, and is found in many different species of bacteria.