Whiff of earth may help bacteria spread

摘要

SOIL gets its distinctive smell from chemicals produced primarily by soil-dwelling bacteria called Streptomyces. But until now, we didn't know why they produce these odours. To find out, Paul Becher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and his team set up field traps containing colonies of Streptomyces. They thought that the smell may be a signal to other organisms to warn of toxicity.