Genes that make bacteria make up their minds
Bacteria are single cell organisms with no nervous system or brain. So how do individual bacterial cells living as part of a complex community called a biofilm "decide" between different physiological...
View ArticleUnited we stand; divided we fall
In the July 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Roberto Kolter (Harvard Medical School) and colleagues make the unprecedented observation of paracrine signaling during Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation.
View ArticleFlat bacteria in nanoslits
It appears that bacteria can squeeze through practically anything. In extremely small nanoslits they take on a completely new flat shape. Even in this squashed form they continue to grow and divide at...
View ArticleNovel research to root out how microbes affect rice plants
Plants that live in the soil don't live alone -- a mere teaspoon of soil teems with an estimated billion microscopic organisms.
View ArticleArgonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University, Evanston, have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended...
View ArticleBiologists discover an extra layer of protection for bacterial spores
Bacterial spores, the most resistant organisms on earth, carry an extra coating of protection previously undetected, a team of microbiologists reports in the latest issue of the journal Current...
View ArticleImaging reveals key metabolic factors of cannibalistic bacteria
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have revealed new details about how cannibalistic bacteria identify peers suitable for consumption. The work, which employed imaging mass...
View ArticleBacteria gauge cold with molecular measuring stick
Some bacteria react to the cold by subtly changing the chemistry of their outer wall so that it remains pliable as temperatures drop. Scientists identified a key protein in this response mechanism a...
View ArticleNew low-cost method to deliver vaccine shows promise
Researchers have developed a promising new approach to vaccination for rotavirus, a common cause of severe diarrheal disease that is responsible for approximately 500,000 deaths among children in the...
View ArticleA pesky bacterial slime reveals its survival secrets
By rethinking what happens on the surface of things, engineers at Harvard University have discovered that Bacillus subtilis biofilm colonies exhibit an unmatched ability to repel a wide range of...
View ArticleMutant microbes test radiation resistance
Early Earth lacked an ozone layer to act as a shield against high-energy solar radiation, but microbes flourished by adapting to or finding other forms of protection from the higher ultraviolet...
View ArticlePolar growth at the bacterial scale reveals potential new targets for...
(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of microbiologists led by Indiana University researchers has identified a new bacterial growth process -- one that occurs at a single end or pole of the cell...
View ArticlePioneering research on Bacillus subtilis metabolism reveals bacterium's secrets
Ground-breaking research by an international team of scientists will help to make one of the most versatile of bacteria even more useful to society and the environment.
View ArticleHow bacteria change movement direction in response to oxygen: Molecular...
How single cell organisms like bacteria manage to react to their environment is not yet completely understood. Together with colleagues from Japan, Dr. Samir El-Mashtoly from the RUB Department of...
View ArticleResearchers show how probiotics boost plant immunity
(Phys.org)—With the help of beneficial bacteria, plants can slam the door when disease pathogens come knocking, University of Delaware researchers have discovered.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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