Navigation Links
Swimming 'to the left' gets bacteria upstream, and may promote infection

Yale engineers who study both flow hydrodynamics and how bacteria propel themselves report that one reason for the high incidence of infections associated with catheters in hospital patients may be that some pathogenic bacteria swim "to the left," in a study published in Physical Review Letters.

"Escherichia coli (E. coli) and some other pathogenic bacteria with flagella interact with the flow of liquid when they are near a surface," said Hür Köser, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Yale and the study's senior author, who has collaborated with a diverse team of scientists for this study.

"Each cell normally has two to six flagella that can rotate together as a bundle and act as a propeller to drive the cell forward. Away from any boundaries, the cells swim in a straight line, but near a surface, opposing forces of flow and bacterial forward motion cause the bacteria to continuously swim to one side ?to the left." The study determined that swimming "to the left" is a hydrodynamic process that is fundamentally related to the way the cells propel themselves in this manner.

Köser and his colleagues show that this phenomenon allows flagellated bacteria, such as E. coli, to find crevices or imperfections on the surface, get trapped, and swim upstream. This allows the bacteria to eventually locate large reservoirs with richer sources of food and better conditions for multiplying.

"We think that upstream swimming of bacteria may be relevant to the transport of E. coli in the urinary tract," said Köser. "It might also explain the high rates of infection in catheterized patients and the incidence of microbial contamination at protected wellheads. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a natural propensity to swim upstream has been discovered and described in bacteri
'"/>

Source:Yale University


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Swimming with dolphins can alleviate depression
2. Anti-bacterial additive widespread in U.S. waterways
3. A bacterial genome reveals new targets to combat infectious disease
4. Discovery of key proteins shape could lead to improved bacterial pneumonia vaccine
5. Scientists discover that host cell lipids facilitate bacterial movement
6. Family trees of ancient bacteria reveal evolutionary moves
7. Drug-resistant bacteria on poultry products differ by brand
8. Programmable cells: Engineer turns bacteria into living computers
9. NASA links nanobacteria to kidney stones and other diseases
10. Substance protects resilient staph bacteria
11. Physiological effects of reduced gravity on bacteria
Post Your Comments:
(Date:7/8/2008)...08 -- Swine production generates large amounts of ...y serve as fertilizer when applied to agricultural...fferent than what a crop requires. Application of ... in application of excess phosphorus which increas...Swine fed corn diets with more highly available ph...
(Date:7/8/2008)...vailable in Spanish . , Barcelona, Spain: R...imes women undergo assisted reproduction technolog...ming majority achieve a pregnancy within the first...d a more consistent, but lower, pregnancy rate of ..., Mr Simon Hong told the 24th annual meeting of t...
(Date:7/8/2008)...ble in Spanish . , Barcelona, Spain: Child...placed in the womb have higher birth weight than t...ientists reported to the 24th annual conference of...bryology today (Tuesday 8 July). The mothers had l...n increased risk of congenital malformations, said...
(Date:7/7/2008)...evolved over millions of years to maximise efficie...ying to perfect streamlined designs for barely a c...the experts? Biologists and engineers from across...e flippers, fins and tails of whales and dolphins,... their structure that contradict long-held enginee...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Failure of the 1st attempt at assisted reproduction justifies at least 1 additional cycle 2Failure of the 1st attempt at assisted reproduction justifies at least 1 additional cycle 3Children born from frozen embryos weigh more and do better than those born after fresh transfer 2Whales and dolphins influence new wind turbine design 2New technique improves outcome for living donor liver transplants 14627 1Eating Disorders Program at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Expands to Include Young Adults 14623 1Eating Disorders Program at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Expands to Include Young Adults 14623 2Eating Disorders Program at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Expands to Include Young Adults 14623 3Siemens Consortium to Construct Particle Therapy Center at the University Clinic of Schleswig Holstein 14618 1Siemens Consortium to Construct Particle Therapy Center at the University Clinic of Schleswig Holstein 14618 2Siemens Consortium to Construct Particle Therapy Center at the University Clinic of Schleswig Holstein 14618 3Siemens Consortium to Construct Particle Therapy Center at the University Clinic of Schleswig Holstein 14618 4VA Putting Mobile Pharmacies on the Road 14614 1VA Putting Mobile Pharmacies on the Road 14614 2
...es Act in 1973, over 1,300 endangered species have...tories. In the forthcoming issue of Ecology Letter...lant and animal status trends and show that the le... of money spent on their conservation are key vari...of species protected are no longer declining and o...
...ct and analyze DNA from giant, extinct lemurs, acc... of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci... from which the DNA was obtained reveal that each ...ears ago, according to the senior author, Anne Yod...gy and Evolutionary Biology. , Living lemurs comp...
...helped public health officials control and limit t...epatitis A virus in 2003 related to the consumptio...s published in the October 15 issue of The Journal...he authors of the study, Joseph J. Amon, PhD, MSPH...l and Prevention (CDC), explained that these molec...
...el of the mechanism birds use to control the growt...ructures involve the coordination of at least two ..., "Understanding these mechanisms of feather growt...ty of feathers," said Richard Prum, senior author ...ofessor of Ornithology, and Curator of Ornithology...
Other Biology News:Ancient DNA confirms single origin of Malagasy primates 2Disrupting Cocaine-memories To Battle Addiction 2Simple explanation for complex pattern of feather development 2
(Date:7/8/2008).../- The world chemical and,pharmaceuti...in early,September to attend the Pharma ChemOutsou...ourcing event is geared to top pharmaceutical and,...d turnout. The popular,seaside venue has had to en...house the hordes of delegates who will descend on ...
(Date:7/8/2008)...- BugLab LLC, has introduced the,BugE...s measurement system,with the widest linear range ...s automated, continuous, real-time optical density... cell culture applications. The BugEye 200,is desi...trial environments,and has a sensor that is easily...
(Date:7/8/2008)...-FirstCall/ -- PAREXEL International,Corporation (...scal Year 2008,financial results on Wednesday, Aug...he announcement will be available on PAREXEL,s web...swire website at http://www.prnewswire.com ., P...t at 10:00 a.m. EDT,on Thursday, August 7, 2008 to...
(Date:7/8/2008)...CFO, a leading provider of outsourced CFO-level fi... biotechnology companies, today announced the addi...ffice. Strickland is the latest partner to join th...May of last year. , Cambr...g provider of outsourced CFO-level financial and ...
Breaking Biology Technology:World Chemical Industry Has Decided to Gather at ChemOutsourcing Show on September 7-9 in New Jersey 2BugLab Launches Noninvasive Biomass Monitor for Continuous, On-Line Measurements 2PAREXEL Announces Date of Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2008 Earnings Release and Conference Call 2TechCFO Adds Gary Strickland as Partner in Boston Office 2
...KEE-- Hal Leonard Corporation , (HLC) headquarter...ublisher, and MakeMusic! Inc. , the leading music...t will be bundling SmartMusic with HLCs popular bo...ts 2000 for Band Book 1 and Essential Elements 200...-based music practice system with over 20,000 fun ...
...es suggest 1500 Megawatts of Electricity Could Be ...he Wisconsin, especially after the California Ener...a paradigm shift. There was a time when the major ...ed with the utilities, the federal government and ... the environmental component of each decision made...
...HA, Wis.-- RedPrairie Corporation , a global suppl...nced the opening of their Asia-Pacific headquarter...nty, the office will grow to sixty employees by th..., customer support and product development for the... to establish Asia-Pacific headquarters in China. ...
...N - When introduced to the world in 1998, human em...w age of transplant medicine. The prospect of an u...o treat disease captured public imagination and en...otential to treat an array of devastating and some...n all is said and done, could match even the prosp...
Other Biology Technology:Wisconsins Businesses Can Become Environmental Leaders 2Wisconsins Businesses Can Become Environmental Leaders 3Stem Cells Illuminate Early Stages of Human Development 2Stem Cells Illuminate Early Stages of Human Development 3
...is based on quantification of the green complex fo...rthophosphate. The rapid color formation from the ...photometer (600-660 nm) or on a plate reader. The ...optimized to offer superior sensitivity and prolon...
...e intended for laboratory research use only. The ...formalin and embedded in paraffin. Tissue identif...athologists. Tissue cores were removed from their...t paraffin block, in an array pattern, using Chemi...
...m from KUBTEC is a dual capability system with the...esentation of the specimen under test. While the X...pecimen X-ray images, the micro focus source also ...in standard 2D images. The 50 mm x 50 mm digital d...
...on products and specialty electrodes, has develope... optimization and large volume electroporation. Th...h in Molecular Delivery. The days of researchers s... typically limited the number of samples and cell ...
Biology Products: