Scientists Engineer First Caffeine-addicted Bacteria

First caffeine-addicted bacteria developed in lab may help combat water pollution, say scientists.

They described bacteria being "addicted" to caffeine in a way that promises practical uses ranging from decontamination of wastewater to bioproduction of medications for asthma.

Caffeine and Decaffeination - Facts - Negative Effects - Reference
Caffeine is a psychoactive stimulant alkaloid commonly found in many of the products we consume daily. Excess intake of caffeine can lead to symptoms similar to substance addiction.

Jeffrey E. Barrick and colleagues noted that caffeine and related chemical compounds have become important water pollutants due to widespread use in coffee, soda pop, tea, energy drinks, chocolate and certain medications.

These include prescription drugs for asthma and other lung diseases. The scientists knew that a natural soil bacterium, Pseudomonas putida CBB5, can actually live solely on caffeine and could be used to clean up such environmental contamination.

So they set out to transfer genetic gear for metabolizing, or breaking down, caffeine from P. putida into that old workhorse of biotechnology, E. coli, which is easy to handle and grow.

Bacteria Breaks Down Caffeine as Food
Researchers at the University of Iowa in the US have discovered a new bacteria that is capable of breaking down caffeine and using it as its food.

They reported their success in doing so, as well as use of the E. coli for decaffeination and measuring the caffeine content of beverages.

It describes development of a synthetic packet of genes for breaking down caffeine and related compounds that can be moved easily to other microbes.

Link Between Caffeine and Bacteria
Traces of caffeine serve as a useful indicator of the contamination of waters by sewers, say researchers led by Prof. Sébastien Sauvé of the University of Montreal's Department of Chemistry.

When engineered into certain E. coli, the result was bacteria literally addicted to caffeine.

The genetic packet could have applications beyond environmental remediation, the scientists said, citing potential use as a sensor to measure caffeine levels in beverages, in recovery of nutrient-rich byproducts of coffee processing and for the cost-effective bioproduction of medicines.

Date Palm Leaves can Purify Waste Water
Chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and dyes from hospital waste water can be removed by date palm leaves, say scientists.

Their findings were reported in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.

Source-ANI