Microbiology News and Research

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Study Finds Insights to Improve Understanding of Microbes’ Function

In a recent study, a team of researchers led by Penn State discovered hints that could assist in better understanding the role microbes play in creating a living skin over many semi-arid ecosystems around the world.

14 Aug 2023

Researchers Find New Way to Defeat Gray Mold Without Toxic Chemicals

It's a mold that causes billions in crop losses every year, infecting berries, tomatoes and most other fruits and vegetables.

9 Aug 2023

Bacteria Have Complex Circadian Clocks, Study Finds

Bacteria make up more than 10% of all living things but until recently we had little realization that, as in humans, soil bacteria have internal clocks that synchronize their activities with the 24-hour cycles of day and night on Earth.

7 Aug 2023

New Insights Into How T Cells Become Exhausted in Cancer

Immune system T cells that should be able to kill cancer cells become dysfunctional or "exhausted" within hours of encountering a tumor, according to a study reported Aug. 3 in Nature Immunology.

7 Aug 2023

New Way to Defeat the Gray Mold Without Showering Toxic Chemicals

It's a mold that causes billions in crop losses every year, infecting berries, tomatoes and most other fruits and vegetables. Now, researchers have found a way to defeat the mold without showering toxic chemicals on the crops.

4 Aug 2023

Do Host Social Interactions Influence Gut Bacteria Evolution?

A recent study demonstrates how host social interactions can have a significant influence on the development of gut bacteria in the gut microbiome. The study, carried out by a group of researchers from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, sought to investigate the impact of host-to-host bacterial transmission on Escherichia coli (E. coli) evolution in mammalian guts.

3 Aug 2023

Study Provides New Insights into Microbial Coexistence

Microbial communities are widely used biotechnology suppliers for processes like manufacturing biofuels and new foods, or helping crops grow better.

21 Jul 2023

New Method Creates Embryo-Like Structure That Mimics Gastrulation

Gastrulation, the process where an embryo reorganizes itself from a hollow sphere into a multilayered structure, is considered a "black box" of human development.

21 Jul 2023

Scientists Identify Key Regulator of Bacterial Cell Wall Remodeling

The bacterial cell wall must be constantly remodeled in order to grow and divide. This involves the close coordination of lytic enzymes and peptidoglycan synthesis.

20 Jul 2023

T-Cell Analysis for Type 1 Diabetes Preventive Therapy

Scripps Researchers have found that looking at a certain type of immune cell in the blood can help pinpoint those who are most vulnerable to acquiring type 1 diabetes, a fatal autoimmune disease

20 Jul 2023

Most Bacteria Found in European Kitchens Are Harmless

Bacteria found in 74 kitchens spread among 5 European countries were mostly harmless according to new research published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

12 Jul 2023

New Insight Into the Physiology of NO-Reducing Microorganisms

Nitric oxide (NO) is a central molecule in the global cycling of nitrogen, and also toxic. Little is known about if and how microbes can use NO as a substrate for growth.

11 Jul 2023

USDA Funds Texas A&M AgriLife Research to Develop “Holy Grail” of Tomatoes

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has funded a new Texas A&M AgriLife Research project expected to bring researchers even closer to developing the "holy grail" of tomatoes.

7 Jul 2023

New Method Reveals How Hepatitis C Virus Evades Immune System

With a new method for examining virus samples researchers from the University of Copenhagen have solved an old riddle about how Hepatitis C virus avoids the human body's immune defenses.

6 Jul 2023

Gut Microbes Could Be Harnessed to Block Mercury Absorption

New research by a team at Pennsylvania State University suggests that microbes in the human gut could be harnessed to block absorption of toxic metals like mercury and help the body absorb useful nutritional ones, like iron.

5 Jul 2023

Understanding How Malaria Parasite Modulates Apicoplast Gene Expression

A recent study supported by Tokyo Tech’s World Research Hub Initiative discovered that gene expression within the apicoplast, an organelle in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is controlled by melatonin (the circadian signaling hormone) in host blood and intrinsic parasite cues via a factor called ApSigma.

5 Jul 2023

The Influence of Streptomyces on Soil Microorganisms

Chemical substances called arginoketides, which are produced by bacteria of the genus Streptomyces, cause a variety of reactions in other microorganisms: Algae group together to form aggregates, fungi produce signaling molecules that they would not otherwise produce, and bacteria develop biofilms that cause other organisms to respond differently.

28 Jun 2023

Novel Drug Slows Development of Antibiotic Resistance

At the Baylor College of Medicine, a research group is gaining ground in its quest for solutions to the global concern of bacterial antibiotic resistance, which was accountable for almost 1.3 million deaths in 2019.

26 Jun 2023

Influenza A Viruses Use "Tactical Strikes" to Hijack Host Cells

Influenza A is one of two influenza viruses that fuel costly annual flu seasons and is a near constant threat to humans and many other animals. It’s also responsible for occasional pandemics that, like the one in 1918, leave millions dead and wreak havoc on health systems and wider society.

23 Jun 2023