'More effective deodorants in the offing'

Scientists have unravelled a key molecular process by which armpit bacteria produce the most pungent smell in body odour, a finding that could result in more effective deodorants.

Previously, researchers have discovered that a small number of species of Staphylococcus bacteria are responsible for the formation of the most pungent component of the whiff in our pits.

However, little has been understood about the process by which these bacteria are able to take up odourless compounds, which we secrete into our underarms when we sweat, and convert them into pungent volatile chemicals.

The new research, published in the journal eLife, deciphered the first step in this process by identifying and decoding the structure of the molecule - known as a "transport" protein - that enables bacteria to recognise and swallow up the odourless compounds secreted in sweat.

 

Solving the structure of the protein means that a new generation of deodorants could now be developed to disrupt its function.

"The skin of our underarms provides a unique niche for bacteria," said Gavin Thomas from the University of York in the UK.

"Through the secretions of various glands that open onto the skin or into hair follicles, this environment is nutrient-rich and hosts its own microbial community, the armpit microbiome, of many species of different microbes," Thomas said.

"Modern deodorants work by inhibiting or killing many of the bacteria present our underarms in order to prevent body odour.

"This study, along with our previous research revealing that only a small number of the bacteria in our armpits are actually responsible for bad smells, could result in the development of more targeted products that aim to inhibit the transport protein and block the production of body odour," said Thomas.

The researchers were able to see the transport protein's detailed molecular structure by crystallising it in laboratories at the University of Oxford and analysing the data at the Diamond Synchrotron Facility; providing a blueprint for how it works and ways to target it.