Notes to News Editors:

The presentation was made at the Society for General Microbiology’s Spring Meeting 2010 'Systems, Mechanisms and Micro-organisms' at Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, UK.

For press enquiries please contact the Press Office at SGM on +44 (0) 118 988 1843 or email press@sgm.ac.uk.

The Society for General Microbiology is the largest microbiology society in Europe, and has over 5,500 members worldwide. The Society provides a common meeting ground for scientists working in research and in fields with applications in microbiology including medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmaceuticals, industry, agriculture, food, the environment and education.

The Society publishes four distinguished journals of international repute: International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Microbiology and Journal of Medical Microbiology (all monthly). The journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. The online versions are published with the assistance of HighWire Press, with many added features and functions to aid the reader, and can be accessed via www.sgm.ac.uk/pubs.