A 2005 study of the antimicrobial activity of several Lycoperdaceae revealed that Handkea utriformis has "significantly active" against a number of bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Mycobacterium smegmatis.
He and a Detroit colleague published two papers on studies with the bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis, a fast-growing and non-pathogenic bacillus with similar physical properties to the tuberculosis bacillus.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis | Mycobacterium smegmatis | Mycobacterium leprae | Mycobacterium ulcerans | Mycobacterium kansasii | Mycobacterium bovis | ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex |
Using a standard laboratory method to determine antimicrobial susceptibility, methanol-based extracts of Lycoperdon umbrinum fruit bodies were shown in a 2005 study to have "significant" antibacterial activity against various human pathogenic bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Mycobacterium smegmatis.