Category Archives: Salmonella

The Colicin Plasmid Persistence Problem

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

Yesterday, I described an interesting paper that provides a potential solution to the plasmid persistence problem–how do bacterial mini-chromosomes that can jump from bacterium to bacterium survive? Not only does this paper shed some light on the ‘plasmid persistence problem’, … Continue reading →

Posted in E. coli, Plasmids, Salmonella

Salmonella, E. coli, and Plasmids, Oh My! Solving the Plasmid Persistence Problem and the Virtues of Open Non-Equilibrium Models

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

Ed Yong has some very good coverage of a recent PNAS paper that describes how bacterial mini-chromosomes, known as plasmids and that often carry disease-related or antibiotic resistance genes, can jump from bacterium to bacterium at really high rates when … Continue reading →

Posted in E. coli, Evolution, Plasmids, Salmonella | 3 Comments

Salmonella, Shigella, and Lactose, Oh My!

Posted on June 12, 2009 by

It’s never made much sense to me why the pathogenic bacteria Salmonella and Shigella (which is really E. coli) have lost the ability to use lactose (milk sugar). Now it does.
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Posted in E. coli, Evolution, Genetics, Genomics, Salmonella | 8 Comments

Salmonella Poisoning Is Rampant

Posted on April 17, 2009 by

In 2008, roughly 48,600 people had food associated Salmonella infections. And that’s an underestimate.
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Posted in Agriculture, Food, Microbiology, Salmonella | 17 Comments

Salmonella as a Commensal(?!?)

Posted on May 21, 2008 by

Can Salmonella be a commensal in humans? And how?
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Posted in Agriculture, Microbiology, Salmonella | 9 Comments