Microbiology Now - August 2011 Archives

Scale models (8/31/2011)

Weizmann Institute scientists have added a significant piece to the puzzle of scaling -- how patterns stay in sync with size as an embryo or organism grows and develops. ...> Full Article

New imaging method sheds light on cell growth (8/31/2011)

University of Illinois researchers developed a new imaging method that can measure cell mass using two beams of light, offering new insight into the much-debated problem of whether cells grow at a constant rate or exponentially. They found that mammalian cells show clear exponential growth only during the G2 phase of the cell cycle. This information has great implications not only for basic biology, but also for diagnostics, drug development and tissue engineering. ...> Full Article

New sensors streamline detection of estrogenic compounds (8/30/2011)

Researchers have engineered new sensors that fluoresce in the presence of compounds that interact with estrogen receptors in human cells. The sensors detect natural or human-made substances that alter estrogenic signaling in the body. ...> Full Article

Newly discovered cell mechanism uses amplified nitric oxide to fight C. diff (8/30/2011)

Research encompassing Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, has uncovered a natural defense mechanism that is capable of inactivating the toxin that spreads Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, an increasingly common bacterial infection in hospitals. ...> Full Article

Revealed: How sticky egg captures sperm (8/29/2011)

Researchers have uncovered exactly how a human egg captures an incoming sperm to begin the fertilization process, in a new study published this week in the journal Science. The research identifies the sugar molecule that makes the outer coat of the egg 'sticky', which is vital for enabling the sperm and egg to bind together. ...> Full Article

Malaria parasites camouflage themselves from the immune defenses of expectant mothers (8/28/2011)

Collaborative research between LSTM and the University of Copenhagen, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have answered a long standing mystery, why and how malaria parasites go unnoticed by the immune defenses of pregnant mothers. Maternal malaria kills 10,000 women and between 10,000 to 200,000 babies every year. Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease and every life lost is needless. ...> Full Article

Embryo development obeys the laws of hydrodynamics (8/27/2011)

The law of hydrodynamics can contribute to our understanding of how a cluster of embryonic cells can transform into an animal within the first 36 hours of development, according to research recently published in European Physical Journal E. ...> Full Article

Kinder, gentler cell capture method could aid medical research (8/26/2011)

A NIST research team has come up with a potential solution to a two-pronged problem in medical research: How to capture cells on a particular spot on a surface using electric fields and keep them alive long enough to run experiments on them. ...> Full Article

Scientists expand knowledge of cell process involved in many diseases (8/26/2011)

As part of a joint research effort with the University of Michigan, scientists from the Florida campus of the Scripps Research Institute have for the first time defined the structure of one of the cell's most basic engines, which is required for cell growth, as it assembles from its components. ...> Full Article

Chemists discover most naturally variable protein in dental plaque bacterium (8/25/2011)

Two UC San Diego chemists have discovered the most naturally variable protein known to date in a bacterium that is a key player in the formation of dental plaque. ...> Full Article

Realistic simulation of ion flux through membrane sheds light on antibiotic resistance (8/25/2011)

A new study describes an innovative new computational model that realistically simulates the complex conditions found in biological systems and allows for a more accurate look at ion channel function at the level of individual atoms. The research, published in the Biophysical Journal, provides a remarkably detailed look at the function of a bacterial channel that kills brain cells in people with bacterial meningitis and provides insight into mechanisms that underlie deadly antibiotic resistance. ...> Full Article

Salmonella stays deadly with a 'beta' version of cell behavior (8/24/2011)

Salmonella cells have hijacked the protein-building process to maintain their ability to cause illness, new research suggests. Scientists say that these bacteria have modified what has long been considered typical cell behavior by using a beta form of an amino acid -- as opposed to an alpha form -- during the act of making proteins. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover how molecular motors go into 'energy save mode' (8/23/2011)

The transport system inside living cells is a well-oiled machine with tiny protein motors hauling vital cargo around the cell. A new study in the Aug. 12 issue of Science, describes how the motors save energy, when their transport services aren't required. The solution to this molecular puzzle provides new insight into how molecular motor proteins are regulated, and may open new avenues for the treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's. ...> Full Article

Researchers create new experimental vaccine against chikungunya virus (8/22/2011)

Researchers have developed a new candidate vaccine to protect against chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that produces an intensely painful and often chronic arthritic disease that has stricken millions of people in India, Southeast Asia and Africa. ...> Full Article

Gator in your tank: Alligator fat as a new source of biodiesel fuel (8/22/2011)

Amid growing concern that using soybeans and other food crops to produce biodiesel fuel will raise the price of food, scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for the fuel: Alligator fat. Their report documenting gator fat's suitability for biofuel production appears in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. ...> Full Article

Virus uses 'Swiss Army knife' protein to cause infection (8/21/2011)

In an advance in understanding Mother Nature's copy machines, motors, assembly lines and other biological nano-machines, scientists are describing how a multipurpose protein on the tail of a virus bores into bacteria like a drill bit, clears the shavings out of the hole and enlarges the hole. They report on the "Swiss Army Knife" protein, which enables the virus to pump its genetic material into and thus infect bacteria, in Journal of the American Chemical Society. ...> Full Article

Engineered bacteria mop up mercury spills (8/21/2011)

Thousands of tonnes of toxic mercury are released into the environment every year. Much of this collects in sediment where it is converted into toxic methyl mercury, and enters the food chain ending up in the fish we eat. New research, published in BioMed Central's open-access journal BMC Biotechnology, showcases genetically engineered bacteria which are able to withstand high levels of mercury and are also able to mop up mercury from their surroundings. ...> Full Article

Researchers find high energy output from algae-based fuel, but 'no silver bullet' (8/20/2011)

Algae-based fuel is one of many options among the array of possible future energy sources. New University of Virginia research shows that while algae-based transportation fuels produce high energy output with minimal land use, their production could come with significant environmental burdens. ...> Full Article

A mold on which to create new parts of the puzzle that is the nervous system (8/19/2011)

Nervous system diseases are especially difficult to treat, as it is not easy to replace the parts of the neural puzzle which are damaged. The key is in developing functional neurons from in vitro-treated cells but for this it is essential that the support on which these cells are based simulate the characteristics of the nervous system. This is what biochemist Patricia García has done. ...> Full Article

Major breakthrough on how viruses infect plants (8/19/2011)

CSIRO plant scientists have shed light on a problem that has puzzled researchers since the first virus was discovered in 1892 -- how exactly do they cause disease? ...> Full Article

Protein unmasks pathogenic fungi to activate immune response (8/18/2011)

Whitehead Institute researchers have uncovered a novel association between two fungal recognition receptors on the surface of certain immune cells, called macrophages. The interaction of these receptors (dectin-1 and galectin-3) sheds new light on how the innate immune system discriminates between non-pathogenic and pathogenic fungi. Invasive fungal infections are a rising source of morbidity and mortality in healthy individuals, as well as in patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as cancer or AIDS. ...> Full Article

Collaborative finding about cell division & metabolism (8/17/2011)

A new finding based on multiple collaborations between UNC and Duke scientists over several years points to new avenues for investigation of cell metabolism that may provide insights into diseases ranging from neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease to certain types of cancers. ...> Full Article

Research team discovers new conducting properties of bacteria-produced wires (8/16/2011)

The discovery of a fundamental, previously unknown property of microbial nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens that allows electron transfer across long distances could revolutionize nanotechnology and bioelectronics, says a team of physicists and microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Their findings reported in the Aug. 7 advance online issue of Nature Nanotechnology may one day lead to cheaper, less toxic nanomaterials for biosensors and solid state electronics that interface with biological systems. ...> Full Article

First scorpion antivenom approved by FDA (8/15/2011)

The highest concentration of dangerous bark scorpions in the United States is in Arizona, where about 8,000 scorpion stings occur each year. Several hundred of these result in serious nerve poisoning and require medical treatment. Nearly all of these patients are young children, whose breathing may be severely affected by the effects of the venom, necessitating heavy sedation, intensive supportive care and, often, ventilation. A newly approved antivenom, Anascorp, relieves symptoms quickly. ...> Full Article

Entomologist to study diseases transmitted by ticks (8/14/2011)

Summer for most people means time spent outdoors, which could also mean increased exposure to bugs and, possibly, arthropod-borne diseases, such as "rickettsial diseases" -- infectious diseases spread by bacteria, which, generally, are transmitted by lice, fleas, ticks and mites. A $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will enable a team led by Joao Pedra, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, to study how our immune system responds to rickettsial infection. ...> Full Article

Innate cells shown to form immunological 'memory' and protect against viral infection (8/13/2011)

Researchers have demonstrated that cells of the innate immune system are capable of "memory", and of mounting rapid protection to an otherwise lethal dose of live vaccinia virus. The study, published in the open access journal PLoS Pathogens on August 4, challenges previous thought that only B cells and T cells can store memory to ward off future infection. The finding has potentially significant consequences for the design of future vaccines, particularly for HIV. ...> Full Article

Scientist develops virus that targets HIV (8/13/2011)

In what represents an important step toward curing HIV, a USC scientist has created a virus that hunts down HIV-infected cells. ...> Full Article

Researchers describe key molecule that keeps immune cell development on track (8/12/2011)

In the latest issue of Nature, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clarify the role of two proteins key to T-cell development. They found that one well-known protein called Notch passes off much of its role during T-cell maturation to another protein called TCF-1. ...> Full Article

Bellybutton microbiomes (8/12/2011)

Human skin is teeming with microbes -- communities of bacteria, many of which are harmless, live alongside the more infamous microbes sometimes found on the skin. Nina Rountree from North Carolina State University and colleagues set out to dispel the myth that all bacteria on the skin are disease-causing germs. ...> Full Article

Baker's yeast protects against fatal infections (8/11/2011)

Injecting mice with simple baker's yeast protects against the fatal fungal infection, aspergillosis, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. The work could lead to the development of a human vaccine that protects immuno-compromised people against a range of life-threatening fungal infections, for which current therapy often fails. ...> Full Article

1 species of pathogen can produce 2 distinct biofilms (8/11/2011)

Many medical devices, ranging from artificial hip joints to dentures and catheters, can come with unwelcome guests -- complex communities of microbial pathogens called biofilms that are resistant to the human immune system and antibiotics, thus proving a serious threat to human health. However, researchers may have a new way of looking at biofilms, thanks to a new study published in the Aug. 2 issue of the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology. ...> Full Article

Scientists probe the energy transfer process in photosynthetic proteins (8/10/2011)

Researchers have developed a new method to probe the fundamental workings of photosynthesis. The new experimental technique could help scientists better understand the nitty-gritty details of nature's amazingly efficient sunlight-to-fuel conversion system. ...> Full Article

Biology, materials science get a boost from robust imaging tool (8/10/2011)

Shape and alignment are everything. How nanometer-sized pieces fit together into a whole structure determines how well a living cell or an artificially fabricated device performs. A new method to help understand and predict such structure has arrived with the successful use a new imaging tool. ...> Full Article

Study reports microbes consumed oil in Gulf slick at unexpected rates (8/9/2011)

In the first published study to explain the role of microbes in breaking down the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers have found that bacterial microbes inside the slick degraded the oil at a rate five times faster than microbes outside the slick -- accounting in large part for the disappearance of the slick some three weeks after Deepwater Horizon's Macondo well was shut off. ...> Full Article

Microbial study reveals sophisticated sensory response (8/8/2011)

All biological sensory systems, including the five human senses, have something in common: when exposed to a sustained change in sensory input, the sense eventually acclimates and notices subsequent changes without comparing them with the initial condition. This autonomous tuning of perceptions, known as sensory adaptation, has been recognized for more than a century. A new study demonstrates that even microbes have sensory adaptation so precise that their behavior remains identical in ever-changing background conditions. ...> Full Article

Scientists identify hibernation-inducing signaling mechanism (8/7/2011)

Hibernation is an essential survival strategy for some animals and scientists have long thought it could also hold promise for human survival. But how hibernation works is largely unknown. Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have successfully induced hibernation at will, showing how the process is initiated. Their research is published in the July 26 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. ...> Full Article

Shuttle service in cells (8/6/2011)

Research scientists at the Ruhr University Bochum discovered a new enzyme, which gives decisive insights into protein import into specific cellular organelles (peroxisomes). In the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team of Prof. Erdmann (Medical Faculty, Department of Systemic Biochemistry) reports that the enzyme Ubp15p collaborates with two other proteins to convert the protein transport machinery back into its initial condition after work has been completed. ...> Full Article

Sharper, deeper, faster (8/5/2011)

For modern biologists, the ability to capture high-quality, three-dimensional (3-D) images of living tissues or organisms over time is necessary to answer problems in areas ranging from genomics to neurobiology and developmental biology. Looking to improve upon current methods of imaging, researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a novel approach that could redefine optical imaging of live biological samples by simultaneously achieving high resolution, high penetration depth, and high imaging speed. ...> Full Article

Unexpected discovery on hormone secretion (8/4/2011)

A team of geneticists at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal, directed by Dr. Jacques Drouin, made an unexpected discovery on hormone secretion. Contrary to common belief, the researchers found that pituitary cells are organized in structured networks. The scientific breakthrough was published yesterday by the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...> Full Article

Targeting toxin trafficking (8/4/2011)

Toxins produced by plants and bacteria pose a significant threat to humans, as emphasized by the recent effects of cucumber-borne Shiga toxin in Germany. Now, new research published on July 21 by the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell provides a clearer view of the combination of similar and divergent strategies that different toxins use to invade a human host cell. ...> Full Article

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics: The more they resist, the more they divide (8/3/2011)

a research team at the Portuguese CBA research (University of Lisbon) and the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência has shown that, surprisingly, when both mechanisms of resistance are playing out in the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli), its ability to survive and reproduce is increased. ...> Full Article

Got flow cytometry? All you need is 5 bucks and a cell phone (8/3/2011)

Researchers at the BioPhotonics Laboratory at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated the integration of an imaging cytometry and florescent microscopy on a cell phone using a compact, light-weight and cost-effective optofluidic attachment. The cell phone enabled optofluidic imaging flow cytometer could be used for rapid and sensitive imaging of bodily fluids for conducting various cell counts or rare cell analysis. ...> Full Article

Identical virus, host populations can prevail for centuries (8/3/2011)

A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist, analyzing ancient plankton DNA signatures in sediments of the Black Sea, has found for the first time that the same genetic populations of a virus and its algal host can persist and coexist for centuries. The findings have implications for the ecological significance of viruses in shaping algae ecosystems in the ocean, and perhaps fresh water as well. ...> Full Article

New target found for nitric oxide's attack on salmonella bacteria (8/3/2011)

A new target for nitric oxide has been revealed in studies of how it inhibits the growth of Salmonella, a bacteria that is a common cause of food poisoning. Naturally produced in the nose and gut, nitric oxide interfers at various points in the Krebs cycle, the part of cellular respiration that turns fuel into energy. Knowing how nitric oxide restricts pathogen metabolism may lead to new antimicrobials or drugs that promote the body's own natural defenses. ...> Full Article

Anglo-French team discover elusive gene that makes platelets gray (8/2/2011)

Researchers have identified an elusive gene responsible for Gray Platelet Syndrome, an extremely rare blood disorder in which only about 50 known cases have been reported. As a result, it is hoped that future cases will be easier to diagnose with a DNA test.The findings were made following a collaborative study by professor Willem Ouwehand and Dr. Cornelis Albers, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and Dr. Paquita Nurden, from the Rare Platelet Disorders laboratory, based in Bordeaux. ...> Full Article

A hot species for cool structures (8/2/2011)

A fungus that lives at extremely high temperatures could help understand structures within our own cells. Scientists at EMBL and Heidelberg University were the first to sequence and analyze the genome of a heat-loving fungus, and used that information to determine the long sought 3-D structure of the inner ring of the nuclear pore. ...> Full Article

A closer look at cells (8/2/2011)

Many substances and nutrients are exchanged across the cell membrane. EPFL scientists have developed a method to observe these exchanges, by taking a highly accurate count of the number of proteins found there. Their research has just been published in the journal PLoS ONE. ...> Full Article

Specialized regulatory T cell stifles antibody production centers (8/1/2011)

A regulatory T cell that expresses three specific genes shuts down the mass production of antibodies launched by the immune system to attack invaders, a team led by scientists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported online in the journal Nature Medicine. ...> Full Article

Controlling movements with light (8/1/2011)

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universitaet have succeeded in controlling the activity of certain nerve cells using light, thus influencing the movements of mice. By changing special receptors in nerve cells of the cerebellum such that they can be activated and deactivated by light, the researchers have shown that the signaling pathways, which are activated by the receptors play a crucial role in controlling movement. ...> Full Article