OT: fungi and bacteria, WAS: Wireless Service for a small town

[Austin]

On 09/19/2003 09:18:33 PM, Terrence Enger wrote:
> Fungus and bacterial infections can be mutually
> antagonistic.  Is there such a thing as an anti-viral
> infection?  Or is that the negative you didn't really mean?

Huh?  I fixed the error... I work with inhibitors of 'viral' infections.

But since you asked, viruses are neither fungi nor bacteria.  And yes, fungi  
and bacteria are very good at fighting each other for resources.   That's why  
when one makes wine, one need not worry about it getting infected by bateria  
once the yeast is alive, but the yeast may not bloom if the batch is infected  
with bacteria.

Back to the point, I'm not sure if there are viruses which infect fungi or  
bacteria, but since neither have a proper immune system, I doubt if they can  
actually fight the viral infection.  Their best defense mechanism is likely  
apoptosis, a.k.a. suicide, to prevent the virus from spreading.  So no, I  
don't think fungi or bacteria could be used to fight against viruses.

On the other hand, it is conceivable that one could engineer a virus to  
specifically target fungi or bacteria, and use it as a theraputic antifungal  
or antibacterial agent...

Why am I talking about this again?

Austin
--
                        Austin Acton Hon.B.Sc.
             Synthetic Organic Chemist, Teaching Assistant
           Department of Chemistry, York University, Toronto
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                     homepage: www.groundstate.ca
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