http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/microbiology/ Microbiology News. Articles and images on biochemistry research, micro-organisms, cell functions and related topics, updated daily. en-us Fri, 16 May 2008 16:05:01 EDT Fri, 16 May 2008 16:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/microbiology/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515120804.htm T cells can initiate cellular suicide, also known as apoptosis, by a previously unrecognized pathway that starts with the destruction of a key enzyme in mitochondria, the power plant of the cell. Sat, 17 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515120804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514082740.htm Scientists succeeded in capturing syntrophic (means "feeding together") microorganisms that are known to dramatically reduce the oceanic emission of methane into the atmosphere. These microorganisms that oxidize methane anaerobically are an important component of the global carbon cycle and a major sink for methane on Earth. Methane - a more than 20 times stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide - constantly seeps out large methane hydrate reservoirs in the ocean floors, but 80 percent of it are immediately consumed by these microorganisms. Fri, 16 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514082740.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514082019.htm Due to their ability to produce a potent inhibitor of protein degradation, hibernating bears do not lose muscle mass after long periods of hibernation. The team researched for the first time the physiological reasons for an effect that is well known to the scientific community -- the fact that hibernating bears do not lose muscle tissue, only fat. The team studied the physiological response of muscle cells of laboratory rats grown with hibernating bear plasma outside the period of hibernation. Fri, 16 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514082019.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080516094452.htm A new study reveals in unprecedented detail the genetic identity of versions of HIV responsible for sexual transmission. In 80 percent of the study's newly infected patients, a single HIV variant caused transmission, according to researchers. The detail provides important clues in the ongoing search for an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine. Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080516094452.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512172904.htm Fruit flies are dramatically different from humans not in their number of genes, but in the number of protein interactions in their bodies, according to scientists who have developed a new way of estimating the total number of interactions between proteins in any organism. Thu, 15 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512172904.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512172907.htm It’s a paradox that has confounded evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin: Since parasites depend on their hosts for survival, why do they harm them? A new study of monarch butterflies and the microscopic parasites that hitch a ride on them finds that the parasites strike a middle ground between the benefits gained by reproducing rapidly and the costs to their hosts. Thu, 15 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512172907.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513153947.htm RNA is best known as a working copy of the DNA sequence of genes. In this role, it's a carrier of the genes' instructions to the cell, which manufactures proteins according to information in the RNA molecule. But molecular biologists have increasingly realized that many RNA snippets -- so-called small RNAs -- also directly influence which genes make proteins, and in some cases, how much protein. Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513153947.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514094245.htm In every production zone worldwide, cocoa trees are faced with pests and diseases that can wipe out entire harvests. To protect their crops, farmers often use costly, polluting chemicals or labour-intensive manual techniques. However, there are now clean, ecological methods, for instance using sources of natural resistance. In this respect, a highly specific group of cocoa trees, the wild trees found in French Guiana, looks very promising. Thu, 15 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514094245.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515120747.htm Microbiologists have found a way to trigger a protein combination called 9-1-1 that sends an SOS signal for cells to fight cancer-causing agents such as industrial toxins, ultraviolet radiation, and X-rays. The finding may be a breakthrough in cancer research that could lead to better cancer diagnosis through targeting defective genes. It may also pave the way for a drug that activates the SOS response in cells. Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515120747.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515205640.htm Computational biologists have for the first time tackled the dilemma of how to study the ancestry of multidomain genes, which encode an important class of proteins called multidomain proteins that are crucial to human health. They found that standard methods for analyzing gene evolution, are critically flawed when applied to multidomain genes, mutations of which often are associated with cancers. Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515205640.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515171017.htm Having found that whether bacteria stick to surfaces depends partly on how stiff those surfaces are, MIT engineers have created ultrathin films made of polymers that could be applied to medical devices and other surfaces to control microbe accumulation. Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515171017.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515145401.htm Compared to humans, bacteria have a much tidier genome. The tiny microorganisms pack their genes closely together, and don't carry around a lot of extraneous DNA, so-called junk DNA that fills in the gaps between genes. Some 90 percent of the complete genome sequence of the bacteria E. coli contains sequences of DNA that code for protein, while 90 percent of the human genome is non-coding junk DNA. Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515145401.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515120750.htm Now that high school biology students can recite that genes are made of DNA, which is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), which is then translated into protein, along comes a new class of molecules, sending students -- and many scientists -- scrambling for updated textbooks. Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515120750.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515113308.htm Researchers have sequenced the entire genetic code of 23 strains of Flavivirus, the virus that causes St. Louis encephalitis, to understand its evolutionary history. This study, published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, found that a single mutation made the virus pathogenic to humans and that the North and South American strains divided about 116 years ago. Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515113308.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513103957.htm Researchers have completed a massive survey of the network of protein complexes that orchestrate the fundamental processes of life. In the journal Science, researchers describe protein complexes and networks of complexes never before observed -- including two implicated in the normal mechanisms by which cells divide and proliferate and another that controls recycling of the molecular building blocks of life called autophagy. Wed, 14 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513103957.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101555.htm A study of Florida beaches has shown that wet sand and dry sand above the intertidal zone have significantly more fecal bacteria than near-shore seawater. Scientists researched whether indicator bacteria survive longer in sand relative to open water and found that all feces-derived bacteria were capable of enhanced growth and survival in sand, while in seawater the bacterial populations steadily decreased over time. Wed, 14 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101555.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512212320.htm Cornell researchers are studying bacterium big enough to see -- the Shaquille O'Neal of bacteria. The secret to an unusual bacterium's massive size -- it's the size of a grain of salt, or a million times bigger than E. coli bacteria, and big enough to see with the naked eye -- may be found in its ability to copy its genome tens of thousands of times. Tue, 13 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512212320.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512143743.htm Blackberries, blueberries, oranges and grapes --- chemistry students are loading up on their fruits these days, but it has nothing to do with the food pyramid. The students are using the fruit to produce solar energy. Actually, they are using the dye from the fruit in a process to create solar cells. Tue, 13 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512143743.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512092318.htm Researchers in California report development of a new kind of genetically modified yeast cell that produces complex proteins up to 300 times more than possible in the past. These "super yeasts" could help boost production and lower prices for a new generation of protein-based drugs that show promise for fighting diabetes, obesity, and other diseases, the researchers suggest. Tue, 13 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512092318.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512105729.htm While it has long been known that embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any kind of tissue-specific cells, the exact mechanism as to how this occurs has heretofore not been demonstrated. Now, researchers have succeeded in graphically revealing this process, resolving a long-standing question as to whether the stem cells achieve their development through selective activation or selective repression of genes. Tue, 13 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512105729.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080511190830.htm At first, fruit flies eat like horses. Hatching inside over-ripe fruit where they were laid, they feed wildly in the sugar-rich environment until nature sends them an offer they can't refuse. To survive, they must leave the fruit, wander off and burrow into the earth where they avoid food as if it were poison. Only then can the larvae grow and hatch into flies that will take wing to lay their own eggs. Researchers have now discovered that the important developmental switch from food attraction to aversion in the fruit fly larva is controlled by a timing mechanism in the brain and its sensory system. The study shows how this important avoidance mechanism has been recruited into evolutionary processes to promote development and could lead to new methods of controlling pain in humans and other animals. Mon, 12 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080511190830.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080511205328.htm Scientists have discovered a fast and effective way to investigate important aspects of human aging: a gene in fruit flies that means flies can now be used to study the effects aging has on DNA. The researchers found that flies with damage to this gene share important features with people suffering from the rapid aging condition Werner syndrome. Mon, 12 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080511205328.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508145501.htm Now that the genome of humans and many other organisms have been sequenced, biologists are turning their attention to discovering how the many thousands of structural and control genes -- the "worker bees" of living cells that can turn genes on and off -- function. Mon, 12 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508145501.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509170744.htm Researchers have discovered an anti-virulence factor in Salmonella, knowledge that could be used to design improved Salmonella vaccines. Virulence factors allow a pathogen to thrive in the host and cause disease. An anti-virulence factor controls the degree of infectiveness. Mon, 12 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509170744.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508222417.htm Researchers from the United States and Switzerland have developed mathematical and statistical tools for reconstructing viral populations using pyrosequencing, a novel and effective technique for sequencing DNA. Mon, 12 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508222417.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508135223.htm Scientist have examined a new mechanism in the reproductive cycle of a certain species of mold. This mechanism protects the organism from genetic abnormalities by "silencing" unmatched genes during meiosis (sexual reproduction). The finding could have implications for higher organisms and may lead to precise "targeting" of unwanted genes, such as those from the HIV virus. Sun, 11 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508135223.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508143317.htm It has been widely assumed that, in single-celled organisms, each cell perceives its environment -- and responds to stress conditions -- individually. Likewise, it had been thought that cells in multicellular organisms respond the same way. But scientists have now discovered otherwise. In studies of the worm C. elegans, they found that authority is taken away from individual cells and given to two specialized neurons to sense temperature stress and organize an integrated molecular response for the entire organism. Sat, 10 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508143317.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508131953.htm New research on cane toads in Northern Australia has discovered a way to control the cane toad invasion using parasites and toad communication signals. Biologists says that controlling toads has been difficult as things that kill them will often kill frogs. Professor Shine and his team studied cane toads in Queensland that lagged behind the invasion front and found they were infected with a lungworm parasite which slows down adults and, in laboratory tests, kills around 30% of baby toads. Sat, 10 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508131953.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133239.htm By surveying the activity of thousands of genes at several different time points, researchers have uncovered new evidence that a network of influential genes act as a kind of genetic tag team to orchestrate one of the most fundamental aspects of all life: the cell cycle. Fri, 09 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133239.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105601.htm Fruits and vegetables that are rich in nitrates protect the stomach from damage. This takes place through conversion of nitrates into nitrites by the bacteria in the oral cavity and subsequent transformation into biologically active nitric oxide in the stomach. This also means that antibacterial mouthwashes can be harmful for the stomach. Fri, 09 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105601.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508103623.htm For the first time, research has made possible a detailed map of how the building blocks of chromosomes, the cellular structures that contain genes, are organized in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The work identifies a critical stop sign for transcription, the first step in gene expression, and has implications for understanding how the AIDS virus regulates its genes. Fri, 09 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508103623.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505093416.htm Researchers in Korea report development of a way to double production of a sticky protein from marine mussels destined for use as an antibacterial coating to prevent life-threatening infections in medical implants. The coating, produced by genetically-engineered bacteria, could cut medical costs and improve implant safety, the researchers say. Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505093416.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505120757.htm A study performed on the fruit fly unveils how distinct signaling pathways operate between neighboring cells in order to activate the cell proliferation machinery that results in the organized growth of the fly wing. The signaling pathways involved in this process are also conserved in humans, and when altered give rise to the appearance of different types of cancer, including cancer of the colon and skin, and leukemia. Wed, 07 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505120757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506110733.htm The origin of the centrosome has been controversial for many years. The theory of symbiogenesis as a mechanism of evolution has also stirred debate since it was introduced in the 1920s and subsequently elaborated in the 1960s by Lynn Margulis of University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Today, only two cellular components -- the mitochondria and the chloroplasts -- are generally accepted by evolutionary biologists as having a symbiogenetic origin. A new paper suggests that centrosomes are another likely candidate. Wed, 07 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506110733.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094133.htm The transparent embryos of zebrafish are popular models of development, and scientists routinely tag proteins with tracers to study protein trafficking in the embryo. Sugars, which decorate 90 percent of the proteins on a cell's surface, have been harder to track. Now, UC Berkeley scientists have developed a way to attach fluorophores to sugars and follow their changing patterns throughout early development, providing a tool that could reveal the true role of cell-surface sugars. Tue, 06 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094133.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211758.htm The model fungus Podospora anserina has undergone substantial evolution since its separation from Neurospora crassa, as revealed from the Podospora draft genome sequence published in Genome Biology. The study also shows that the Podospora genome contains a large, highly specialized set of genes potentially involved in the breakdown of complex carbon sources, which may have potential use in biotechnology applications. Tue, 06 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211758.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505221645.htm Paleontologists have long been perplexed by dinosaur fossils with missing pieces -- sets of teeth without a jaw bone, bones that are pitted and grooved, even bones that are half gone. Now a Brigham Young University study identifies a culprit: ancient insects that munched on dinosaur bones. Tue, 06 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505221645.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504153820.htm One of the tactics used by influenza virus to take over the machinery of infected cells has been laid bare by structural biologists. A new high-resolution image has been published showing a key protein domain whose function is to allow the virus to multiply by hijacking the host cell protein production machinery. Tue, 06 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504153820.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505072838.htm Fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment after recent war campaigns, according to a new report in Current Biology. Fungi can "lock" depleted uranium into a mineral form that may be less likely to find its way into plants, animals, or the water supply. Tue, 06 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505072838.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125429.htm Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have identified a potential "red tide killer." Red tides and related phenomena in which microscopic algae accumulate rapidly in dense concentrations have been on the rise in recent years, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide losses to fisheries and beach tourism activities. Despite their wide-ranging impacts, such phenomena, more broadly referred to as "harmful algal blooms," remain unpredictable in not only where they appear, but how long they persist. Tue, 06 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125429.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504194238.htm Bacteria that cause the bubonic plague may be more virulent than their close relatives because of a single genetic mutation, according to research published in the May issue of the journal Microbiology. Mon, 05 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504194238.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504194241.htm Leptospirosis is a serious but neglected emerging disease that infects humans through contaminated water. Now research published in the May issue of the journal Microbiology shows for the first time how bacteria that cause the disease survive in the environment. Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504194241.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502154252.htm Scientists have discovered a new way that phosphorus is naturally removed from the oceans -- its stored in diatoms. The discovery opens up a new realm of research into an element that's used for reproduction, energy storage and structural materials in every organism. Mon, 05 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502154252.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504153753.htm A spidery fungus with a voracious appetite for military uniforms and canvas tents could hold the key to improvements in the production of biofuels, a team of government, academic and industry researchers has announced. Mon, 05 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504153753.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502114924.htm Scientists in Italy have discovered a new perspective in the study of infectious disease. They recently studied an environmental bacteria and it’s interaction with the environment and found that this provided them with vast amounts of information about how the organism causes disease. Sun, 04 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502114924.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501180247.htm Fire-derived charcoal is thought to be an important carbon sink. However, a new article in Science shows that charcoal promotes soil microbes and causes a large loss of soil carbon. There has been greatly increasing attention given to the potential of ‘biochar’, or charcoal made from biological tissues (e.g., wood) to serve as a long term sink of carbon in the soil. Sun, 04 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501180247.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502091421.htm Scientists in Germany have discovered a new mechanism of infection for the most fatal bee disease. American Foulbrood is the only infectious disease which can kill entire colonies of bees. Every year, this notifiable disease is causing considerable economic loss to beekeepers all over the world. The only control measure is to destroy the infected hive. Sun, 04 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502091421.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501110008.htm Bacteria that feed on seaweed could help in the disposal of pollutants in the world's oceans, according to a new study. Researchers explain that as marine pollution is on the increase novel approaches to removing toxic contaminants is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. Fri, 02 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501110008.htm