Marine bacteria in protective clothing
USA: Researchers at the University of California, Davis have found a strain of marine bacteria that produces large amounts of red pigment that can color clothing and guard against harmful bacteria.
According to an article in Science Friday online, the scientists found this strain while hunting for organisms that produce natural colorings. They tried various organisms before zeroing in on one kind of marine bacteria, Vibrio sp.
The researchers, led by Gang Sun, professor of Textiles and Clothing at UC Davis, plucked the bacteria from sediment on the shore of Eel Pond in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Then they brought the bacteria into the lab and gave them enough food and an ideal habitat so the micro-organisms could grow and thrive--and make a lot of pigment. They tested the dye on a dozen materials and found that it worked well on several, particularly wool and silk.
The group is not quite sure why the bacteria make the brilliant red dye, but they suspect it has something to do with protection. The pigment, a compound called prodigine, has antibacterial properties, too.
According to the Science Friday article, professor Sun thinks the pigment gives the bacteria built-in protection against other harmful micro-organisms. Coloring a material with the pigment passes on that anti-microbial protection. Lab tests showed that most of the dyed fabrics they tested had the ability to kill both E. coli and S. aureus. The fabrics that absorbed more dye, such as wool, were better germ-fighters than those fabrics, such as cotton, that didn't take up as much color, according to Sun. The researchers are working to increase that protection, so more fabrics will provide more protection against more germs.
If red is not your favorite color, the research team hope to be able to chemically modify the pigment to create any color.
This research is published in a recent issue of the American Chemical Society journal, Biotechnology Progress.
