4 ms·
> But, if you stick a vegetable in salt water, a different class of bacteria breaks it down into stuff that we can eat. The "bad" bacteria that live in the air
by Aardwolf 5y ago
> But, if you stick a vegetable in salt water, a different class of bacteria breaks it down into stuff that we can eat. The "bad" bacteria that live in the air can’t grow in the salt water, whereas the "good" can.
Any clue why the bacteria that can survive the salt happens to be a "good" one? What has stopped "bad" bacteria that can survive the salt too from evolving?
- elhudy 5y agoI think the question you are asking is "why can lactic acid bacteria survive in a saline environment whereas some harmful bacteria types cannot?" I believe the answer is that "bad" bacteria CAN oftentimes survive in environments with high-salinity [1], but struggle to compete with lactic-acid bacteria (i.e. "good" bacteria - LAB) in the presence of both a saline environment as well as a high ph environment. LAB also engage in antimicrobial activities within your gut [2] likely using bacteriocins as the mechanism. Salt generally inhibits fungal growth though. [1] https://academic.oup.com/femsle/article/243/2/373/495985 https://academic.oup.com/femsle/article/243/2/373/495985 [2]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15374659/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15374659/
- im3w1l 5y agoYeah well why aren't lactic acid bacteria dangerous to us? Just coincidence or is there something more there?