Microbiology

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Exploring the Potential of Gut-Derived Nisin-Like Lantibiotics

A common preservative used to kill pathogens in food has been found to also affect beneficial bacteria, endangering the balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome.

5 Feb 2024

Unveiling HIV's Hidden Entry Point for Targeted Antibodies

As the HIV virus approaches a human cell to dock and potentially deliver its lethal genetic code, there is a remarkably brief moment during which a tiny portion of its surface undergoes a rapid opening, initiating the infection process.

5 Feb 2024

New Model Predicts How Soil Microbes Impact Climate

Climate models are essential to predicting and addressing climate change, but can fail to adequately represent soil microbes, a critical player in ecosystem soil carbon sequestration that affects the global carbon cycle.

5 Feb 2024

Bacteria Arrangement in Biofilm Influences Reaction to Antibiotics

Although bacteria are typically thought of as single-celled creatures suspended in liquids or dispersed sparsely across surfaces, their true mode of growth is in sticky clusters known as biofilms in many settings.

5 Feb 2024

Decoding Virus-Host Tug-of-War with RNA-Protein Interaction Mapping

The interplay between ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins is not only important for maintaining cellular homeostasis but is also at the center of the tug-of-war between virus and host.

2 Feb 2024

Tomatoes as Nature's Antibacterial Agents

According to research published in Microbiology Spectrum, a magazine of the American Society for Microbiology, tomato juice can eliminate Salmonella Typhi and other bacteria that can damage people's digestive and urinary system health. Typhoid fever is brought on by the lethal human-specific bacterium Salmonella Typhi.

31 Jan 2024

Scientists Develop Green Antibiotic Alternative to Treat Deadly Pathogen in Hybrid Striped Bass

Scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) developed a green antibiotic alternative to treat the deadly pathogen Streptococcus iniae in hybrid striped bass, the fourth most farmed finfish in the United States, according to a recent study.

31 Jan 2024

Gut Bacteria Shape Our Defense Against Respiratory Viral Infections

The composition of microbiota found in the gut influences how susceptible mice are to respiratory virus infections and the severity of these infections, according to researchers from the Center for Translational Antiviral Research in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

31 Jan 2024

Unveiling How Animals Control Friendly Bacteria for Defense

Thousands of types of bacteria live in the human gut. They help digest the food we eat and absorb nutrients, but these bacteria don’t just do this to be kind to humans, there is a benefit for them too.

27 Jan 2024

QIAGEN Announces Partnership With Penn State University to Advance Microbiome Sciences

QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a first-in-kind collaboration with Penn State University in the United States to create a shared research and education facility for the fast-developing microbiome sciences.

From Qiagen 27 Jan 2024

The Surprising Impact of Temperature on Bacterial Predator-Prey Interactions

In a recent study, the predator-prey connection between two species of lab-grown bacteria was reversed when one species was cultivated at a lower temperature. These results were published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology on January 23rd by Marie Vasse of MIVEGEC, France, and colleagues.

24 Jan 2024

First Multicellular Streptophytes in Phylogenomic Framework

The most complex body type among photosynthetic organisms is that of land plants. How did this structure come to be?

24 Jan 2024

New Method Labels Viruses for Efficient Tracking and Tailoring

At the grocery store, barcodes make it quick and simple to identify products and frequently contain important details like quantity, location, and tracking.

22 Jan 2024

New Virus Targets Dormant Bacteria, Boosting Antibiotic Power

In nature, the majority of bacteria adhere to a minimalistic lifestyle. When faced with nutrient scarcity or stress, they initiate a controlled shutdown of their metabolism, entering a resting state.

22 Jan 2024

Bacteria's Immune System Enhances the Effect of Antibiotics Against Cholera Pathogen

Bacteria have an immune system that protects them against viruses known as bacteriophages. A research team from the Universities of Tübingen and Würzburg has now shown how this immune system enhances the effect of specific antibiotics against the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae.

22 Jan 2024

Domestication Drives Convergent Plant-Microbial Partnerships Across Continents

The communities of microorganisms connected to plants can change as a result of human domestication of crops, according to recent research headed by the University of Oxford.

17 Jan 2024

Implications of the KMAP Ocean Gene Catalog 1.0

The greatest investigation of ocean DNA reveals the diverse world of ocean bacteria. The KMAP Global Ocean Gene Catalog 1.0, an open-source database containing over 317 million gene groups, has the potential to stimulate biotechnology innovation and reveal the function of marine microbes in reducing global warming and preserving human and environmental health.

17 Jan 2024

Algal Blooms May Pose More Health Risks Than Previously Thought

Florida's 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon (IRL) borders five different counties and has five inlets that connect the lagoon with the Atlantic Ocean.

16 Jan 2024

Honeybees Directly Provide Nutrients to Gut Bacteria

Bacteria have adapted to all terrestrial environments. Some have evolved to survive in the gut of animals, where they play an important role for their host; they provide energy by degrading indigestible food, they train and regulate the immune system, they protect against invasion by pathogenic bacteria, and they synthesize neuroactive molecules that regulate the behavior and cognition of their host.

16 Jan 2024

Genome Analysis Exposes How Fungal Infections Evade Drugs

Global fungal infections, which affect one billion people and cause 1.5 million deaths each year, are on the rise due to the increasing number of medical treatments that heighten vulnerability.

16 Jan 2024