Moth gut bacteria could help create new antibiotics

This benevolent bacteria fends off deadly microbial invaders S. Thiessen, MPI for Chemical Ecology The cotton leafworm, Spodoptera Littoralis, holds a bacterium in its gut capable of fending off unwanted, deadly microbes. Moths are herbivores. The last thing they want are tiny bugs in their bellies. But they give a pass to one bacterium—E. mundtii. In…