BacteriophageWIKIMEDIA, MOSTAFA FATEHIAs research surfaces supporting the role of beneficial bacteria in human health, immunity, and normal childhood development, some scientists are beginning to look at even smaller biological entities in our gut. In a study published today (May 2) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have shown that bacteria-attacking viruses, called bacteriophages, reside in the protective mucus layer of many animal species and can help keep bacterial populations in check.
“The study is ground breaking and quite novel,” Rick Bushman, a microbiome researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, told The Scientist in an email. “The finding that phage can bind mucous and thereby protect cells from bacterial infection is convincing and exciting.”
Working with corals, fish, and human samples, researchers from Forest Rohwer’s lab at San Diego State University began to notice there was a much higher percentage of bacteriophages in mucosal linings than in surrounding surfaces. Many animals use mucus as a protective layer at the interface between the environment and their own cells, such as those in our mouths and gut. Mucus is also home to many strains of beneficial bacterial and provides the ideal wet and warm environment, ...
