WHAT’S big, smelly and helps trigger tooth decay and gum disease? It’s a bug called Fusobacterium nucleatum, but now scientists have read its genome they’ve found clues for ways to kill it.
Many harmful bacteria attach themselves to the mouth using the bug as a bridge. “Get rid of Fusobacterium, you get rid of those nasty components,” says Vinayak Kapatral of Integrated Genomics in Chicago.
Fusobacterium’s DNA sequence reveals possible points of attack, including an unusual amino acid in its outer shell. The microbe also generates energy by making butyrate—a compound that stops wounds healing and contributes to bad breath. Kapatral’s team is now developing compounds…
