
Medium is Well Done for Detecting Harmful
SalmonellaBy Jill Lee August 4, 1997In movies, the cops sometimes get the bad guys to confess by making them
comfortable--easing them into disclosing their guilt. Now, a USDA scientist can coax Salmonella
bacteria, food-safety culprits in poultry, into spilling their well-kept
secrets. J. Guard Petter, with USDAs Agricultural Research Service at Athens,
Ga., does this with a new laboratory growth medium. Bacteria exposed to the new medium make more proteins and carbohydrates
connected with causing illness and egg contamination. It even works for strains
that normally dont make these proteins. This means researchers could
discover if a bacterium now considered harmless has a potentially dangerous
side. Researchers have considered a growth medium successful if it doubled protein
production. The new medium increases production an average of ten fold. ARS has
applied for a patent, and the researchers seek to expand the technologys
applications beyond detecting food pathogens. For example, using the medium to mine bacterial cells for
hard-to-find proteins could help lead to new vaccines. The medium might also
improve existing vaccines, especially those using dead bacteria to boost
immunity. Drug companies could evaluate protein quality before harvesting a
candidate bacterium. This could ensure more consistency from one drug batch to
the next. The medium could also improve safety of vaccines made with a live though
harmless form of a bacterium. Researchers could test the bacteriums
potential to revert to a disease-causing form. The new mediums ability to make cells express proteins longer than
usual may also help medical researchers studying diseases caused by genes
turning on at the wrong time. Scientific contact: J. G. Petter, USDA/ARS
Southeast
Poultry Research Laboratory, Athens, Ga. Phone: (706) 546-3446, fax (706)
546-3161 e-mail: [email protected] Story contacts Poultry Research U.S. Department of Agriculture | |