Bacteria feed on stinky breath
Bad breath is something that most people fight hard to avoid. Now, scientists have isolated from people’s mouths bacteria that aid in that battle. The microbes consume the chemicals that cause mouth odor.
Last year, Ann P. Wood of King’s College London and her colleagues reported that a group of bacteria, known as methylotrophs, live off chemicals that emanate from smelly feet. These bacteria eat methylated sulfur compounds, chemicals that result from the breakdown of amino acids.