Researchers at the University of Oregon have uncovered a molecular mechanism by which the human stomach pathogen Helicobacter pylori is attracted to bleach, also known as hypochlorous acid or HOCI. The study revealed that H. pylori uses a protein called TlpD to sense bleach and swim toward it, and that the bacteria Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli can use TlpD-like proteins to detect bleach in the environment.
