Microbiology

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Xylem filters from native trees help purify drinking water

The interiors of nonflowering trees such as pine and ginkgo contain sapwood lined with straw-like conduits known as xylem, which draw water up through a tree's trunk and branches. Xylem conduits are interconnected via thin membranes that act as natural sieves, filtering out bubbles from water and sap.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 26 Mar 2021

Study shows SARS-CoV-2 antibodies wane at different rates

Researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School, the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Infectious Diseases Labs have discovered that antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 decline at different speeds, and these antibodies last for only a few days in some people but remain for many years in other individuals.

24 Mar 2021

New function of BMI1 gene can protect against Alzheimer’s disease

The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre has taken another step toward interpreting Alzheimer’s disease.

24 Mar 2021

Bacteria residing within tumor cells may boost cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy may get a boost from an unexpected direction: bacteria residing within tumor cells. In a new study published in Nature, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science and their collaborators have discovered that the immune system "sees" these bacteria and shown they can be harnessed to provoke an immune reaction against the tumor.

23 Mar 2021

Hormone drugs may help disarm coronavirus spike protein and stop disease progression

Hormone drugs that reduce androgen levels may help disarm the coronavirus spike protein used to infect cells and stop the progression of severe COVID-19 disease, suggests a new preclinical study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and published online in Cell Press's iScience.

23 Mar 2021

Decades of crop breeding prevents modern corn from recruiting nitrogen-fixing microbes

Corn didn't start out as the powerhouse crop it is today. No, for most of the thousands of years it was undergoing domestication and improvement, corn grew humbly within the limits of what the environment and smallholder farmers could provide.

17 Mar 2021

Collective behavior of bacterial swarms may lead to the emergence of antibiotic resistance

A new study shows that the bacterial equivalent of a traffic jam leads to the formation of multilayered biofilms in the presence of antibiotics.

17 Mar 2021

Four strains of Methylobacteriaceae discovered

The latest discovery aboard the International Space Station could now enable scientists to develop the “fuel” to help plants endure such stressful conditions.

From NASA 17 Mar 2021

RNA-editing events can reveal the genetic basis of many human diseases

Scientists from CHOP have detected RNA-editing events that affect the expression of genes and the phenotypic manifestation of that specific expression.

10 Mar 2021

Study offers fresh insights into infection process during spaceflight

Astronauts face many challenges to their health, due to the exceptional conditions of spaceflight. Among these are a variety of infectious microbes that can attack their suppressed immune systems.

10 Mar 2021

Probiotic spray reduced incidence of fire blight in apple flowers

While many celebrate apple blossoms as classic signs of spring, they are also welcoming entry gates for pathogens. Full of nutrients to lure pollinators and promote pollen germination, flowers also attract bacteria like Erwinia amylavora, a pathogen that causes a damaging disease called fire blight.

10 Mar 2021

Face masks made of cotton fabrics work best to slow down the spread of COVID-19

Researchers have come up with a better way to test which fabrics work best for masks that are meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.

From National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 10 Mar 2021

PrecisionTox aims to protect human health from the toxic effects of chemicals

A major research project to shape regulation and policy on chemical safety without the use of animal testing has been launched with the aid of €19.3M funding from the European Commission.

10 Mar 2021

New drug target identified for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Scientists have discovered a key mechanism that enables dangerous bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics.

9 Mar 2021

UMD awarded grant to explore nettle as a functional food for improving health

Obesity, diabetes, and overall immune system health are issues that are all top-of-mind right now, especially during the pandemic.

9 Mar 2021

Gut mycobiome correlates with metabolic outcomes in response to diet

Studies of the microbiome in the human gut focus mainly on bacteria. Other microbes that are also present in the gut -- viruses, protists, archaea and fungi -- have been largely overlooked.

8 Mar 2021

New way to create eco-friendly fungicides that protect food crops

A new study has revealed an important phase in researchers’ quest to produce targeted and more eco-friendly fungicides that protect food crops.

5 Mar 2021

Mutant peptides derived from SARS-CoV-2 hamper activation of CD8+ killer T cells

A deep sequencing study of 747 SARS-CoV-2 virus isolates has revealed mutant peptides derived from the virus that cannot effectively bind to critical proteins on the surface of infected cells and, in turn, hamper activation of CD8+ killer T cells that recognize and destroy these infected cells.

5 Mar 2021

New automated workflow to identify genetic basis of microbial growth inhibition

Researchers at the Earlham Institute (EI) have created a new automated workflow using liquid handling robots to identify the genetic basis to prevent plant pathogens, which can be used on a much larger and rapid scale than current methods.

5 Mar 2021

Three new COVID-19 variants can evade antibodies that act against original virus

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that three new, fast-spreading variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic.

5 Mar 2021