Bacteria recruit other species with long-range electrical signals
Biologists at UC San Diego who recently found that bacteria resolve social conflicts within their communities and communicate with one another like neurons in the brain have discovered another...
View ArticleTiny 'racetracks' show how bacteria get organized
As the world prepares to watch the Summer Olympics' track and field events in Rio, it will come as no surprise that the runners in each race travel in the same direction around the track. But new...
View ArticleBacteria use DNA replication to time key decision
In spore-forming bacteria, chromosomal locations of genes can couple the DNA replication cycle to critical, once-in-a-lifetime decisions about whether to reproduce or form spores. The new finding by...
View ArticleBacterial raincoat discovery paves way to better crop protection
Fresh insights into how bacteria protect themselves - by forming a waterproof raincoat - could help develop improved products to protect plants from disease.
View ArticleBacteria are wishing you a Merry Xmas
A bacterium has been used to wish people a Merry Xmas. Grown by Dr Munehiro Asally, an Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick, the letters used to spell MERRY XMAS are made of Bacillus...
View ArticleIdentifying the many layers of a bug's design
(Phys.org) —Lawrence Livermore researchers have discovered additional "coats," or layers, of a bacterium spore found in the human gut that may give clues to how this organism develops, spreads and...
View ArticleAdventurous bacteria
To reproduce or to conquer the world? Surprisingly, bacteria also face this problem. Theoretical biophysicists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have now shown how these organisms...
View ArticleScientists combine bacteria with liquid crystals
(Phys.org) —When swimming around, bacteria aren't good with the "pool rules." In small quantities, they'll follow the lanes, but put enough together and they'll begin to create their own flow.
View ArticleDecisions, decisions: How microbes choose lifestyles gives clue to origin of...
Like many bacteria, the Bacillus subtilis lives a double life.
View ArticleGreen isoprene closer to reality
(Phys.org) —With an eye toward maximizing isoprene production in bacteria, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University sought to understand isoprene regulation...
View ArticlePredictive model a step toward using bacteria as a renewable fuel source
A new transcriptomics-based model accurately predicts how much isoprene the bacterium Bacillus subtilis will produce when stressed or nourished. This model marks a step toward understanding how changes...
View Article'Bacterial raincoat' found to protect bacteria from the environment
(Phys.org) —Research led by scientists at the University of Dundee has uncovered the workings of a 'bacterial raincoat' that helps to protect bacteria from the changing environment in which they live.
View ArticleNatural pest control protein effective against hookworm: A billion could benefit
A benign crystal protein, produced naturally by bacteria and used as an organic pesticide, could be a safe, inexpensive treatment for parasitic worms in humans and provide effective relief to over a...
View ArticleResearchers engineer synthetic pathways for new antibacterial treatments
Bacteria, for the most part, thrive in extreme temperatures and in arid conditions. But some types of bacteria have the capacity to do this and more: they grow within diverse environments and adapt...
View ArticleResearchers study code that allows bacteria to either bet on the present or...
(Phys.org)—Individual freedom and social responsibility may sound like humanistic concepts, but an investigation of the genetic circuitry of bacteria suggests that even the simplest creatures can make...
View ArticleStudy reveals secrets of bacterial slime
(Phys.org) —Newcastle University scientists have revealed the mechanism that causes a slime to form, making bacteria hard to shift and resistant to antibiotics.
View ArticleHead-on collisions between DNA-code reading machineries accelerate gene...
Bacteria appear to speed up their evolution by positioning specific genes along the route of expected traffic jams in DNA encoding. Certain genes are in prime collision paths for the moving molecular...
View ArticleDeciphering bacterial doomsday decisions: Study finds bacteria delay survival...
(Phys.org)—Like a homeowner prepping for a hurricane, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis uses a long checklist to prepare for survival in hard times. In a new study, scientists at Rice University and the...
View ArticleThe determining factors of cell shape examined
A European team is investigating the role of the bacterial cell wall and the cytoskeleton in mediating cell shape. Results are expected to have broader implications for cell biology.
View ArticleHorticultural hijacking: Researchers reveal the 'dark side' of beneficial...
(Phys.org)—It's a battleground down there—in the soil where plants and bacteria dwell.
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