Widespread abundance of functional bacterial amyloid in mycolata and other gram-positive bacteria

Gram-positive bacteria are probed with conformationally specific antibodies and have disclosed the existence of extracellular functional bacterial amyloid (FuBA) in mycolata species, as well as six other specific antibodies belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. The studies have shown that amyloid is widespread among gram-positive bacteria and might constitute an integral part of the spore and the cellular envelope.