Predatory bacteria, capable of invading and consuming harmful bugs such as E .coli and Salmonella, use a unique tool to help them escape the cell they have invaded without harming themselves, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham have identified a particular enzyme used by the bacteria to rupture the cell wall of its prey bacteria and exit without damaging its own cell wall. Their findings are published in Nature Communications.

The bacterium, called Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, is important because the types of cells they attack - Gram-negative bacteria - are ...