Bacteria in Biological News

Biological warfare in bacteria offers hope for new antibiotics

Scientists are to study a group of proteins that are highly effective at killing bacteria and which could hold the key to developing new types of antibiotics. Researchers from the Universities of York and Leeds have been awarded 3.3m from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counc...

Boston University biomedical engineers teach bacteria to count

BOSTON (05-28-09) -- Biomedical engineers at Boston University have taught bacteria how to count. Professor James J. Collins and colleagues have wired a new sequence of genes that allow the microbes to count discrete events, opening the door for a host of potential applications, which could includ...

Tufted bacteria cause infection in premature babies

Bacteria that normally reside on the skin of healthy people can cause serious infections in premature babies. A group of researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now found an explanation for why a certain kind of staphylococcus can attach itself to the skin and quic...

Sugar on bacteria surface serves as base for a web of resistance

COLUMBUS, Ohio The bacteria responsible for chronic infections in cystic fibrosis patients use one of the sugars on the germs' surface to start building a structure that helps the microbes resist efforts to kill them, new research shows. Scientists have determined that the bacterial cell-surfa...

Study finds multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria high in long-term care

The prevalence of a certain form of drug-resistant bacteria, called multidrug-resistant gram-negative (MDRGN) organisms, far surpassed that of two other common antimicrobial-resistant infections in long-term care facilities, according to a study conducted by researchers at Hebrew SeniorLife's Inst...

Orientation of antenna protein in photosynthetic bacteria described

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have figured out the orientation of a protein in the antenna complex to its neighboring membrane in a photosynthetic bacterium, a key find in the process of energy transfer in photosynthesis. Robert Blankenship, Ph.D., Markey Distinguished Profe...

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 processes (such as movement or producing the "glue" that forms the biofilm)? In the prestigio...

When intestinal bacteria go surfing

The bacterium Escherichia coli is part of the healthy human intestinal flora. However, E. coli also has pathogenic relatives that trigger diarrhea illnesses: enterohemorrhagic E.coli bacteria. During the course of an infection they infest the intestinal mucosa, causing injury in the process,...

Microscope reveals how bacteria 'breathe' toxic metals

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Researchers are studying some common soil bacteria that "inhale" toxic metals and "exhale" them in a non-toxic form. The bacteria might one day be used to clean up toxic chemicals left over from nuclear weapons production decades ago. Using a unique combination of microscop...

Flies may spread drug-resistant bacteria from poultry operations

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found evidence that houseflies collected near broiler poultry operations may contribute to the dispersion of drug-resistant bacteria and thus increase the potential for human exposure to drug-resistant bacteria. The findings demons...

New method monitors critical bacteria in wastewater treatment

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have developed a new technique using sensors to constantly monitor the health of bacteria critical to wastewater treatment facilities and have verified a theory that copper is vital to the proper functioning of a key enzyme in the bacteria. The new method sens...

Single gene lets bacteria jump from host to host

MADISON All life plants, animals, people depends on peaceful coexistence with a swarm of microbial life that performs vital services from helping to convert food to energy to protection from disease. Now, with the help of a squid that uses a luminescent bacterium to create a predator-fooling...

Scientists identify bacteria that increase plant growth

UPTON, NY Through work originally designed to remove contaminants from soil, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and their Belgium colleagues at Hasselt University have identified plant-associated microbes that can improve plant growth on marginal la...

Research elucidates way lungs fight bacteria and prevent infection

NEW YORK (Jan. 23, 2009) Actor and pancreatic cancer patient Patrick Swayze's recent hospitalization with pneumonia as a result of his compromised immune system underscores the sensitivity of the lungs: many patients die from lung complications of a disease, rather than the disease itself. Lun...

Uncultured bacteria found in amniotic fluids of women who experience preterm births

CLEVELANDResearchers from Case Western Reserve University and Yale University have made a significant advancement in understanding the cause behind why some pregnant women suffer from inflammations in the inner womb without any signs of an infection. Using gene-cloning techniques, researchers d...

Scientists fool bacteria into killing themselves to survive

Like firemen fighting fire with fire, researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have found a way to fool a bacteria's evolutionary machinery into programming its own death. "The basic idea is for an antimicrobial to target something in a bacteria t...

Escherichia coli bacteria transferring between humans and mountain gorillas

Bwindi, Uganda November 24, 2008 A new study finds that mountain gorillas are at increased risk of acquiring gastrointestinal microbes, such as Escherichia Coli , from humans. The study, published in Conservation Biology , examines the exchange of digestive system bacteria between humans, moun...

Scripps research scientists identify blood component that turns bacteria virulent

LA JOLLA, CA, November 20, 2008Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered the key chemical that signals Bacillus anthracis , the bacterium that causes anthrax, to become lethal. This finding opens up new avenues of exploration for the development of treatments for bacterial in...

How do bacteria swim? Brown physicists explain

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] Imagine yourself swimming in a pool: It's the movement of your arms and legs, not the viscosity of the water, that mostly dictates the speed and direction that you swim. For tiny organisms, the situation is different. Microbes' speed and direction are subjec...

New bacteria discovered in raw milk

Raw milk is illegal in many countries as it can be contaminated with potentially harmful microbes. Contamination can also spoil the milk, making it taste bitter and turn thick and sticky. Now scientists have discovered new species of bacteria that can grow at low temperatures, spoiling raw milk ev...

Battling bacteria in the blood: Researchers tackle deadly infections

ANN ARBOR, Mich. It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays and lost work time of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it. "It" is bacterial...

Waste from gut bacteria helps host control weight, UT Southwestern researchers report

DALLAS Oct. 17, 2008 A single molecule in the intestinal wall, activated by the waste products from gut bacteria, plays a large role in controlling whether the host animals are lean or fatty, a research team, including scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center, has found in a mouse study. ...

Scientists discover bacteria that can cause bone infections

Scientists have discovered that a bone infection is caused by a newly described species of bacteria that is related to the tuberculosis pathogen. The discovery may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of similar infections, according to an article published in the October issue of the Interna...

H. Pylori bacteria may help prevent some esophageal cancers

PHILADELPHIA Some bacteria may help protect against the development of a type of esophageal cancer, known as adenocarcinoma, according to a new review of the medical literature. These bacteria, which are called Helicobacter pylori, live in the stomachs of humans. The review, published in t...

Disinfectants can make bacteria resistant to treatment

Chemicals used in the environment to kill bacteria could be making them stronger, according to a paper published in the October issue of the journal Microbiology . Low levels of these chemicals, called biocides, can make the potentially lethal bacterium Staphylococcus aureus remove toxic chemical...

Cancer-causing gut bacteria exposed

Normal gut bacteria are thought to be involved in colon cancer but the exact mechanisms have remained unknown. Now, scientists from the USA have discovered that a molecule produced by a common gut bacterium activates signalling pathways that are associated with cancer cells. The research, publishe...

'Friendly' bacteria protect against type 1 diabetes, Yale researchers find

In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago showed that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria were protected against the development of Type I diabetes. The findings, reported in the journal Nature ...

Photosynthesizing bacteria with a day-night cycle contain rare chromosome

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Researchers sequencing the DNA of blue-green algae found a linear chromosome harboring genes important for producing biofuels. Simultaneously analyzing the complement of proteins revealed more genes on the linear and the typical circular chromosomes then they'd have found with D...

Rattlesnake-type poisons used by superbug bacteria to beat our defenses

Colonies of hospital superbugs can make poisons similar to those found in rattlesnake venom to attack our bodies' natural defences, scientists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin. The toxi...

Milk may help bacteria survive against low levels of antibiotics

Milk may help prevent potentially dangerous bacteria like Staphylococcus from being killed by antibiotics used to treat animals, scientists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin. Bacteria so...

Energy-saving bacteria resist antibiotics

Bacteria save energy by producing proteins that moonlight, having different roles at different times, which may also protect the microbes from being killed. The moonlighting activity of one enzyme from the tuberculosis bacterium makes it partially resistant to a family of broad-spectrum antibiotic...

Syracuse University scientists discover how some bacteria may steal iron from their human hosts

Like their human hosts, bacteria need iron to survive and they must obtain that iron from the environment. While humans obtain iron primarily through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms to allow them access to iron. A Syracuse University research team led by Ro...

Food scientists confirm commercial product effectively kills bacteria in vegetable washwater

BOISE, IdahoResearch conducted by food science faculty at the University of Idaho and Washington State University indicate that a commercially available fruit and vegetable wash, when used in a food-manufacturing setting, can dramatically decrease the number of disease-causing organisms in produce...

Thinking ahead: Bacteria anticipate coming changes in their environment

Microbes may be smarter than we think. A new study by Princeton University researchers shows for the first time that bacteria don't just react to changes in their surroundings -- they anticipate and prepare for them. The findings, reported in the June 6 issue of Science , challenge the prevai...

Test of bacteria toxin delivery system could pave way for new antibiotic drugs

Jerusalem, June 16, 2008 Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have achieved a breakthrough in monitoring the toxin-delivery system of highly pathogenic bacteria an accomplishment that could help pave the way for new drugs that will be capable of neutralizing those germs. Most b...

Study finds healthy intestinal bacteria within chicken eggs

Athens, Ga. The conventional wisdom among scientists has long been that birds acquire the intestinal bacteria that are necessary for good health from their environment, but a new University of Georgia study finds that chickens are actually born with those bacteria. Lead author Adriana Pedroso ...

Scientists find bacteria thriving on a feast of seafloor rock

On the deep ocean floor, microbial life is feeding on fresh volcanic rock and flourishing with greater abundance than even the most optimistic scientists thought possible. According to a study published May 28 in the journal Nature, scientists have found bacteria growing on oceanic crust in concen...

UIC scientists discover how some bacteria survive antibiotics

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered how some bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment by turning on resistance mechanisms when exposed to the drugs. The findings, published in the April 24 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, could lead to more effective antibioti...

Are sacrificial bacteria altruistic or just unlucky?

HOUSTON, April 15, 2008 -- An investigation of the genes that govern spore formation in the bacteria B. subtilis shows that chance plays a significant role in determining which of the microbes sacrifice themselves for the colony and which go on to form spores. B. subtilis, a common soil bacteri...

Researchers mimic bacteria to produce magnetic nanoparticles

When it comes to designing something, its hard to find a better source of inspiration than Mother Nature. Using that principle, a diverse, interdisciplinary group of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energys Ames Laboratory is mimicking bacteria to synthesize magnetic nanoparticles that could...