WHAT鈥橲 big, smelly and helps trigger tooth decay and gum disease? It鈥檚 a bug called Fusobacterium nucleatum, but now scientists have read its genome they鈥檝e found clues for ways to kill it.
Many harmful bacteria attach themselves to the mouth using the bug as a bridge. 鈥淕et rid of Fusobacterium, you get rid of those nasty components,鈥� says Vinayak Kapatral of Integrated Genomics in Chicago.
Fusobacterium鈥檚 DNA sequence reveals possible points of attack, including an unusual amino acid in its outer shell. The microbe also generates energy by making butyrate鈥攁 compound that stops wounds healing and contributes to bad breath. Kapatral鈥檚 team is now developing compounds that block these pathways and could be added to toothpaste or gum.
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