Navigation Links
Newfound gene may help bacteria survive in extreme environments
Date:7/25/2012

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In the days following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, methane-eating bacteria bloomed in the Gulf of Mexico, feasting on the methane that gushed, along with oil, from the damaged well. The sudden influx of microbes was a scientific curiosity: Prior to the oil spill, scientists had observed relatively few signs of methane-eating microbes in the area.

Now researchers at MIT have discovered a bacterial gene that may explain this sudden influx of methane-eating bacteria. This gene enables bacteria to survive in extreme, oxygen-depleted environments, lying dormant until food such as methane from an oil spill, and the oxygen needed to metabolize it become available. The gene codes for a protein, named HpnR, that is responsible for producing bacterial lipids known as 3-methylhopanoids. The researchers say producing these lipids may better prepare nutrient-starved microbes to make a sudden appearance in nature when conditions are favorable, such as after the Deepwater Horizon accident.

The lipid produced by the HpnR protein may also be used as a biomarker, or a signature in rock layers, to identify dramatic changes in oxygen levels over the course of geologic history.

"The thing that interests us is that this could be a window into the geologic past," says MIT postdoc Paula Welander, who led the research. "In the geologic record, many millions of years ago, we see a number of mass extinction events where there is also evidence of oxygen depletion in the ocean. It's at these key events, and immediately afterward, where we also see increases in all these biomarkers as well as indicators of climate disturbance. It seems to be part of a syndrome of warming, ocean deoxygenation and biotic extinction. The ultimate causes are unknown."

Welander and Roger Summons, a professor of Earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences, have published their results this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienc
'/>"/>

Contact: Caroline McCall
cmccall5@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. Leading evolutionary scientist to discuss how genome of bacteria has evolved
2. Study by UC Santa Barbara researchers suggests that bacteria communicate by touch
3. Team discovers how bacteria resist a Trojan horse antibiotic
4. From scourge to saint: E. coli bacteria becomes a factory - to make cheaper, faster pharmaceuticals
5. Bacterial shock to recapture essential phosphate
6. Disarming disease-causing bacteria
7. Study shows unified process of evolution in bacteria and sexual eukaryotes
8. Invisible helpers: How probiotic bacteria protect against inflammatory bowel diseases
9. Researchers develop rapid test strips for bacterial contamination in swimming water
10. Bacteria discovery could lead to antibiotics alternatives
11. Agricultural bacteria: Blowing in the wind
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/23/2013)... succeeded in treating cerebral palsy with autologous cord blood. ... 2.5 year old boy had been in a persistent ... two months after treatment with the cord blood containing ... months, the child learned to speak simple sentences and ... Korean study, dispel the long-held doubts about the effectiveness ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... world,s largest and fastest growing open-access publishers, announces ... in Bioengineering and Biotechnology . , A ... in Bioengineering and Biotechnology will provide a ... and biotechnology research to be disseminated and discussed. ... will provide an open-science and interactive web ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... In an age when microbial pathogens are growing increasingly ... infection, a team of Wisconsin scientists has synthesized a ... bacteria that cause staph infections. , Writing online in ... a group led by University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry Professor ... "quorum sensing" behavior of Staphylococcus aureus , a ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):First successful treatment of pediatric cerebral palsy with autologous cord blood 2Frontiers launches new open-access journal in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 2University of Wisconsin chemists find new compounds to curb staph infection 2
... invasive alien freshwater mussel species the zebra mussel and ... by calcium levels in streams and lakes and a new ... and American Southwest could be next in line for invasion. ... the online version of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, ...
... Dec. 3 A team of researchers from the Wellman ... Medical School (HMS) have developed an optical device that allows ... monitor the cells passing through its bloodstream. In ... by the Optical Society of America, the team describes how ...
... extraordinary ability to remember numerals that is superior to ... 4th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell ... biologists, who believe that humans are superior to chimpanzees ... University. No one can imagine that chimpanzeesyoung chimpanzees at ...
Cached Biology News:New map outlines risk of zebra mussel invasion 2New map outlines risk of zebra mussel invasion 3New map outlines risk of zebra mussel invasion 4Looking through the eyes of a mouse, scientists monitor circulating cells in its bloodstream 2Looking through the eyes of a mouse, scientists monitor circulating cells in its bloodstream 3Young chimps top adult humans in numerical memory 2
(Date:5/24/2013)... May 24, 2013 Vestiage, Inc. ... company focused on science-based research and development, sales ... cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals, announced today that it is ... for the sale of Reluma Skin Illuminating Facial ... and application by sending an email to info(at)vestiageinc(dot)com ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013  BioScrip, Inc. (NASDAQ: ... present at the Jefferies 2013 Global Healthcare Conference to ... New York. Richard Smith ... Hai Tran , Chief Financial Officer, will present ... Daylight Time.   About BioScrip BioScrip, ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013  Rahal Letterman Lanigan ... human cord blood stem cell banking and therapeutics, announced ... the No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Indy car driven by ... the remainder of the IZOD IndyCar 2013 season.   ... will work to support awareness of umbilical cord blood ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013 Virobay, Inc. ... for pain has reached an important milestone, as Virobay ... VBY-036 - a selective cathepsin S inhibitor.   ... a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the ... VBY-036 in healthy adults. "The initiation of ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Vestiage Announces Launch of Exclusive Territories for Reluma Brand Sales in USA 2Vestiage Announces Launch of Exclusive Territories for Reluma Brand Sales in USA 3Vestiage Announces Launch of Exclusive Territories for Reluma Brand Sales in USA 4Vestiage Announces Launch of Exclusive Territories for Reluma Brand Sales in USA 5StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 2StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 3Virobay, Inc. initiates a Phase 1 Trial of VBY-036, a compound intended for the treatment of neuropathic pain 2Virobay, Inc. initiates a Phase 1 Trial of VBY-036, a compound intended for the treatment of neuropathic pain 3
... of enzymes routinely used to synthesizing some of nature's most ... new way to expand on nature's chemical creativity to make ... 1) in the journal Science , a team led ... the University of Wisconsin-Madison , describes the discovery of ...
... the new darling of Wall Street. In the past ... private equity firms, venture capital firms, and hedge funds. ... trading multiples in excess of $5 per gallon of ... EBITDA, and 1,000x trailing four quarters of net income. ...
... - When it comes to attracting venture capital, Wisconsin has ... Investors on the East and West coasts have basically stuck ... in the Heartland, with the exception of a few states ... have been signs that a few flights ferrying venture capitalists ...
Cached Biology Technology:UW finds new path to anti-cancer agents 2UW finds new path to anti-cancer agents 3Ethanol producers are at a crossroads 2Ethanol producers are at a crossroads 3Ethanol producers are at a crossroads 4Ethanol producers are at a crossroads 5Ethanol producers are at a crossroads 6That blip on the national venture capital radar screen may be Wisconsin 2That blip on the national venture capital radar screen may be Wisconsin 3
... 5'G AATTC3' 3'CTTAA G5' Inactivation Conditions: Heat inactivation ... Storage Conditions: 10mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 100mM KCl, ... BSA, 50% glycerol. Shipping and Storage: Shipped on ... unit is defined as the amount of enzyme ...
... stainless-steel shaker flask clips, purpose-designed to firmly ... All clips are equipped with a top ... include a bottom retainer spring, and silicon ... expensive glassware. Clips include the required ...
ANTI DIPHTH TOX A SU...
... Assay Kit (E-22013) provides,researchers with a ... lysozyme,activity in solution. This fluorescence-based assay ... U/mL (Figure 1). The assay,measures lysozyme ... are labeled to such a degree ...
Biology Products: