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Researchers have discovered toxic protein particles, shaped like umbrellas, that soil bacteria known as Streptomyces secrete to squelch competitors, especially others of their own species.

Streptomyces' chemical weaponry against their competitors is one of the richest sources of such molecules.

What makes these newly detected antibacterial toxins different is that, unlike the Streptomyces' small-molecule antibiotics, umbrella toxins are large complexes composed of multiple proteins.

The authors of the Nature paper speculate that these properties of umbrella toxins explain why they escaped discovery for more than 100 years of research on toxins produced by Streptomyces.

Among these potential adversaries, the toxins specifically targeted their own brethren: other Streptomyces species.