Researchers in Michigan State University’s Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology may have found just such a substance. Academic Research Specialist Ritam Sinha and Rudolph Hugh Endowed Professor and Department Chair Victor DiRita and colleagues discovered that a molecule called indole can inhibit the growth of Campylobacter jejuni, a leading cause of food poisoning worldwide.
Their study, published in Science Advances, builds on years of research in the DiRita lab aimed at understanding how C. jejuni, known to researchers as Campy, manages to thrive in the gut and cause disease.
“Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial foodborne illness in the United States, but we still know much less about it than we do about other gut pathogens,” DiRita said. “This study gives us a better understanding of the mechanisms that allow Campylobacter to cause disease, but what’s particularly interesting is that we identified a molecule produced by the gut microbiome that can inhibit its growth. That opens up the possibility of finding creative new ways to limit infection.”