Why are no bacterial pathogens known to use a Bdellovibrio-type of mechanism to penetrate into eukaryotic cells?
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Aha! And that's where the "Bdello-type mechanism" comes in! Duh! Um, let's see... ... ... ... ...
Well, could it possibly be because of the different structure of the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells? May be bacteria haven't developed enzymes to break down the double-layer of phospholipids yet!
Posted by: Autumn Cochrane | June 27, 2008 at 04:32 PM
So, if the Bdellovibrio stays only in the periplasm, that's the answer, right? Eukaryotes, as far as we know, don't have periplasms. So, wouldn't the next question be, if eukaryotes were to develop periplasms, how long would it take for Bdellovibrio to mutate to infect Eukaryotes?
Autumn,
Clever answer, but is there no law that says that bacterial parasites MUST live in the periplasm? Bdellovibrio sure does but there are some that don't.
Elio
Posted by: Autumn Cochrane | June 27, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Bdellovibrio only penetrate cell wall and occupy the periplasm. How they accomplish extraction of all they want from the cytoplasm through the membrane is probably largely due to autodestruction of macromolecules giving usable products. Pathogens often become attached to surfaces of animal and plant cells having gained entry to tissues presumbly via receptors and enzymic attack, or by toxic poisoning of barrier cells. We always seem to assume that nutrition is looked after by the content of tissue fluids but in cases where toxic effects cause cells to leak, then the process is Bdello-like. Someone must know more about free-living eucaryotes and protists, who also get invaded and parasitized.
Posted by: Robert Murray | January 01, 2007 at 09:25 AM