Actinomyces Israelii

The following is a guest posting by Emily et al. in Amman, Jordan... enjoy!

A few weeks ago, a couple of truly dorky first-year medical student friends of mine took the time to look up the subspecies of a bacteria called Actinomyces, and they stumbled upon what had to be either a truly fortunate coincidence, or a bacteria with a sense of humor, or both.

You see, when biologists discover some new species or protein, the one who describes it first gets to name it. Usually they either name it after themselves, how it behaves, or what it looks like. Sometimes they have a sense of humor about it: there is a protein called Sonic Hedge Hog. People end up writing entire dissertations on Sonic Hedge Hog. One dude who developed a DNA separation process was named Southern, and the next person who developed the corresponding process for RNA called it Northern to be cute, etc.

When the diligent medical students curiously researched the types of Actinomyces that have been isolated, they were surprised to discover in the literature a species called Actinomyces israelii. What's more, every source to be found described the bacteria as being highly invasive without respecting borders (here, for example)! We're talking borders in a body, usually human or bovine, so the borders they refer to are the natural divisions between tissue layers. Further research revealed that Actinomyces israelii not only doesn't respect borders, it also forms destructive colonies throughout tissues, establishing itself in a solid matrix so that it cannot be dismantled. Uncanny?

We could have sworn collectively that the bacteria was discovered and named by either a Palestinian or Israeli biologist with a sense of humor. Usually it's the biologists that endow their discoveries with unfortunate namesakes. However, Actinomycosis, the disease caused by the infection of these bacteria, was first described by a dude (I'm assuming it's a dude, since I can't find his or her first name) named J. Israel in 1878, 70 years before the establishment of the modern state of Israel. It appears that the bacteria themselves evolved the funny bone.

Further information taken from UpToDate , the respected medical literature review maintained by physicians, has led the future doctors to their diagnosis, which reads as follows:

We now seek to promote good oral hygiene as a first step to ending the invasion,
occupation, and destruction of Palestinian land and life across fascial
planes. We remind you that flossing (with old school waxy floss or a water
pick) can prevent the dense colonization of Actinomyces israelii and subclinical
periodontal infection- now known to be an important precipitating event for more
extensive disease. Though A. israelii can mimic very aggressive cancers in
its militancy, er, malignancy, we assure that it is definitely a bacterium-
therefore it can still be contained by good old-fashioned penicillin G and other
common bread molds.