Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae. People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria. A new study reveals molecules found in mucus can block cholera infection by interfering with the genes that cause the microbe to switch into a harmful state.
The findings, “Host-derived O-glycans inhibit toxigenic conversion by a virulence-encoding phage in Vibrio cholerae” are published in The EMBO Journal and led by researchers at MIT.
