Last Month in the Blogs (#2)

In case you missed them:

Hiroshi Nikaido, at Small Things Considered, tells us about the limitations of lysogeny broth (LB media, often a misnomer for "Luria Broth" or "Luria-Bertani media"). A highly interesting read, it points out that most of the large peptides in LB are unusable by cells, leading to a lower cell density than optimal. Differences in salt content, as well as the presence of bile salts, cause changes in the cell envelope as well as activates specific efflux pumps, which would normally not be active.

A. J. Cann, at MicrobiologyBytes, writes a review on an article demonstrating that bacterial infection within the gut can drive proliferation of intestinal stem cells, which can lead to cancer in organisms with a genetic predisposition. A good read to go along with the other articles on gut bacteria that I've brought up lately.

And finally, to continue our gut-bacteria discussions, at BiteSizeBio, Suzzane goes point by point on food-borne pathogens. The ones that we should watch out for, and how they get their in the first place. If you find this article interesting, you may find this one on how bacteria stay protected in vesicles on greens interesting as well.

Enjoy!

And as always, questions, comments, suggestions, etc. are more than appreciated!