Shedding light on almost indestructible archaeal pili

Extremophiles are organisms that have evolved to thrive under extremely harsh environmental conditions. Scientists have always been mystified by how these organisms survive in such settings and especially how extracellular appendages, such as pili, remain stable. Researchers from the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Virginia revealed how sugars make those pili almost indestructible. The results have been published in Nature Microbiology.

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