Small molecules with a dual function

Electron micrograph of a cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae (colourised). Image: Kai Papenfort/Liana Franke - The human gut is a multi-species habitat that can control our health and well-being. Bacteria, viruses and microbial fungi are part of this complex microbial community and help us with our digestion and immune defense. If the intestinal flora is impaired, for example by contaminated drinking water or food infected by germs, this can result in infectious diseases. Researchers of the Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse" at Friedrich Schiller University Jena are investigating how cholera bacteria manage to disturb the intestinal balance and at the same time produce a pathogenic toxin. In the current issue of the "EMBO Journal", they present a previously unknown molecular mechanism for the production of the cholera toxin. Central to this mechanism is a small ribonucleic acid (sRNA), together with a small protein.