Microbiology News and Research

RSS

Uncovering new function for small RNAs in Salmonella infections

Millions of people get sick from Salmonella each year because they are food-borne pathogens. These bacteria rely on a sophisticated network of genes and gene products that give them the ability to sense environmental conditions to do this.

4 Jan 2023

Structure of the complete virion of S. epidermidis–infecting phage revealed

Scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham used cryo-electron microscopy to reveal the structure of a bacterial virus in extraordinary detail.

20 Dec 2022

Stress hormones produced by salmon could be leading to increased infections

Fish farming is a crucial industry in Norway, and salmon is by far the most important species. So it's alarming that bacterial diseases are on the rise at the massive sea farms where salmon are raised.

7 Dec 2022

Nitrogen metabolism adaptations allowed marine cyanobacteria to survive in the ocean

The UCO publishes a review of the nitrogen metabolism adaptations that allowed the most abundant photosynthetic organism on Earth, marine cyanobacteria, to survive in environments very poor in nutrients.

30 Nov 2022

Fastest-evolved regions of the human genome diverged rapidly after split from chimpanzee ancestor

A team of Duke researchers has identified a group of human DNA sequences driving changes in brain development, digestion and immunity that seem to have evolved rapidly after our family line split from that of the chimpanzees, but before we split with the Neanderthals.

24 Nov 2022

Chemically attenuated live DNA virus vaccine prevents viral infection

Rutgers researchers have devised a new way to prevent viral infections: a live-attenuated, replication-defective DNA virus vaccine that utilizes the substance centanamycin to create an altered virus for vaccine development.

From Rutgers University 22 Nov 2022

HIV’s covert methods of evading treatment and immunity

According to Duke Health researchers, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) appears to be driven into a latent state, lurking in cells only to erupt once more. This immune response likely evolved to help fight infections.

15 Nov 2022

Exploring behavioral variation in a non-captive animal population

For the first time, researchers demonstrate that monkeys with a more social nature—those that groom or are groomed more frequently and with more grooming partners—have a better gut microbiome.

15 Nov 2022

Short-term tomato consumption alters gut bacteria toward a more favorable profile

Two weeks of eating a diet heavy in tomatoes increased the diversity of gut microbes and altered gut bacteria toward a more favorable profile in young pigs, researchers found.

9 Nov 2022

Providing structural understanding of the influenza virus

The structure of the influenza replication machinery and how it interacts with cellular proteins have been solved by a team of Oxford University scientists using a variety of techniques at Diamond Light Source.

8 Nov 2022

The primary functions of innate immune cells

An inflammation and a rise in mucus production are typical signs of allergies and worm infections. The innate immune cells are involved in this immunological response, although it is still unclear exactly what they do.

4 Nov 2022

Innovative strategy for studying membrane proteins

Membrane proteins are vital therapeutic targets. They exist between the interior and exterior of human cells. Some of them, known as “transporters,” transport substances into and out of the cellular environment.

26 Oct 2022

Dual threat may lead cyanobacteria to take in more carbon

The types of ocean bacteria known to absorb carbon dioxide from the air require more energy – in the form of carbon – and other resources when they're simultaneously infected by viruses and face attack from nearby predators, new research has found.

19 Oct 2022

Delicate strategy employed by pathogens to suppress pyroptosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), continues to be a major infectious threat to global public health.

18 Oct 2022

Newly discovered small blue fish may have evolved from cold-adapted species of the Southern Ocean

The Atacama Trench is a deep-water channel running along the Pacific coast of Chili and Peru, South America. In 2018, an international team of scientists used free-falling "landers" to study the trench, gathering images and specimens of deep-sea creatures.

13 Oct 2022

Genomic research helps in tackling the fatal complications of fungal infections

An important genetic discovery made by a research team led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst scientist sheds new light on the application of the drug caspofungin to treat the deadly fungal infection Aspergillus fumigatus, which claims the lives of about 100,000 severely immunocompromised individuals every year.

7 Oct 2022

Research team outlines three-step technique that lets human body defend against Hep B

A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has unraveled the precise operation of this defensive mechanism after finding a crucial protein complex that is active when our body is infected by the virus, paving the path for novel treatment targets.

5 Oct 2022

Highly effective and safe Zika vaccine technology

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered a Zika vaccine technology that is very safe and effective in preclinical mouse models.

29 Sep 2022

The exchange of nutrients between the mother and fetus mirrored by ‘placenta-on-a-chip’

Plasmodium falciparum infections can result in placental malaria, which can have serious consequences for both mother and child. Nearly 200,000 newborn fatalities annually from placental malaria, primarily as a result of low birth weight, as well as 10,000 maternal deaths.

27 Sep 2022

Study shows how gut bacteria feed on carbohydrate attached to plant proteins

A carbohydrate commonly found attached to plant proteins is a food source for the bacteria in our gut, new research suggests.

23 Sep 2022