Science: How does phenazine, a special antibiotic produced by bacteria enhance its access to phosphorus?

March 9, 2021 News // - For years, scientists know that when there is competition for food and space, the bacteria will produce a line of other bacteria harmful molecules; recently, one published in the international journal Science on In the research report, scientists from the California Institute of Technology and other institutions discovered through research that these so-called antibiotics have another use, that is, when resources are scarce, they can help bacteria obtain necessary nutrients.

In the article, the researchers focused on the bacterial species of the Pseudomonas genus, and also studied the phenazines produced by them.

Image Credit: Darcy McRose

Although the researcher Newman’s laboratory has determined the multiple roles of these molecules for many years, Pseudomonas bacteria do not always produce phenazines, so the researchers first studied the conditions under which these microorganisms produce phenazines.

Researcher McRose wants to know whether there is a correlation between the lack of bioavailable phosphorus and the production of phenazine.

The researchers then used a kind of pseudomonas that could not produce phenazines through genetic modification to conduct experiments.

Researcher Newman said that this study combines our observations of the time when certain antibiotics are produced and our understanding of the chemical reactions they produce.

Original source:

Darcy L.