We are continuing to see new results about the wonderful benefits of a healthy version of what is known as the microbiome. A study out of the Forsyth Institute found that a harmless bacterium that lives in the nose and skin negatively impacts the growth of a pathogen that can cause middle ear infections and pneumonia. That bacterium, Corynebacterium accolens, can stop pneumonia that the World Health Organization says leads to more than one million people deaths a year, mostly young children in developing countries.

In laboratory research, the team further found that C. accolens modifies its local habitat in a manner that inhibits the growth of S. pneumoniae by releasing antibacterial free fatty acids from representative host skin surface triacylglycerols. The team went on to identify the C. accolens enzyme needed for this. These results pave the way for potential future research to determine whether C. accolens might have role as a beneficial bacterium that could be used to control pathogen colonization.

For more information, read the full study.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/fi-sdh122315.php