Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday March 24 2020, @01:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the like-ultra-"pop-rocks"-for-mosquitos dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Scientists previously discovered that a strain of naturally occurring bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) produces several compounds that kill mosquito larvae, yet are harmless to most other organisms. These compounds exist in crystal form inside the bacteria, and when the microbes are eaten by a larva, the high pH and digestive enzymes in their gut cause the crystals to dissolve and rearrange into molecules that perforate the larva's gut cell membranes, quickly killing the insect.

Now, new research led by Grenoble Alpes University and published in Nature Communications has revealed the atomic structure of the most potent Bti crystal and helped explain the mechanism by which the transformed toxin slices through mosquito cell membranes.

"These results help to explain differences in toxicity even by changing a single atom. This opens the door to the rational design of toxins that are safe and effective, for controlling specific mosquito species or disease targets," said Nicholas Sauter, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab's Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division and one of the paper's authors.

Sauter and two other MBIB co-authors used their computing expertise to process the structural data collected by the method of X-ray crystallography, which was performed at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linear Coherent Light Source (LCLS). "X-ray laser light sources like the LCLS are the only technology capable of generating beams focused enough to probe the tiny Bti crystals," added Sauter. "Gathering and then interpreting this complex data involved researchers from 10 institutions—it is a great example of a 'big science' collaboration."

Journal Reference: Guillaume Tetreau et al., Serial femtosecond crystallography on in vivo-grown crystals drives elucidation of mosquitocidal Cyt1Aa bioactivation cascade, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14894-w


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday March 24 2020, @02:34AM

    by Snotnose (1623) on Tuesday March 24 2020, @02:34AM (#974745)

    Tiny rolled up newspapers or magazines?

    --
    When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2