 ability to inhibit the activity both of Bacillus anthracis and its toxin considerably; spores, however, are not affected. The addition of milk to the tea completely inhibits its antibacterial activity against anthrax. Activity against the B. athracis in the laboratory does not prove that drinking tea affects the course of an infection, since it is unknown how these polyphenols are absorbed and distributed within the body.
As with other pathogenic bacteria, B. anthracis must acquire iron in order to grow and proliferate in its host environment. The most readily available iron sources for pathogenic bacteria are the heme groups used by the host in the transport of oxygen. In order to scavenge heme from host hemoglobin and myoglobin, B. anthracis uses two secretory siderophore proteins, IsdX1 and IsdX2. These proteins can separate heme from hemoglobin, allowing surface proteins of B. anthracis to transport it into the cell.
- ^ Holt, J. G., N. R. Krieg, P. H. A. Sneath, J. T. Staley, and S. T. Williams. 1994. Group 17: gram-positive cocci, p. 527-558. In W. R. Hensyl (ed.), Bergey's manual of determinative bacteriology, 9th ed. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, Md.
- ^ Théodoridès, J (April 1966). "Casimir Davaine (1812-1882): a precursor of Pasteur". Medical history 10 (2): 155–65. PMC 1033586. PMID 5325873. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1033586.
- ^ Koch, R. (1876) "Untersuchungen über Bakterien: V. Die Ätiologie der Milzbrand-Krankheit, begründet auf die Entwicklungsgeschichte des Bacillus anthracis" (Investigations into bacteria: V. The etiology of anthrax, based on the ontogenesis of Bacillus anthracis), Cohns Beitrage zur Biologie der Pflanzen, vol. 2, no. 2, pages 277-310.
- ^ Barnes JM (1947). "Penicillin and B. anthracis". J Path Bacteriol 194: 113–125. doi:10.1002/path.1700590113.
- ^ "Anthrax and tea". Society for Applied Microbiology. 2008-03-17. http://www.sfam.org.uk/newsarticle.php?214&2. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ Maresso AW, Garufi G, Schneewind O (2008). "Bacillus anthracis Secretes Proteins That Mediate Heme Acquisition from Hemoglobin". PLOS Pathogens 4(8): e1000132.