Microbiology Now - January 2012 Archives

Mighty mesh (1/31/2012)

New research at Harvard explains how bacterial biofilms expand to form slimy mats on teeth, pipes, surgical instruments, and crops. ...> Full Article

Researchers report fundamental malaria discovery (1/30/2012)

A team of researchers led by Kasturi Haldar and Souvik Bhattacharjee of the University of Notre Dame's Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases has made a fundamental discovery in understanding how malaria parasites cause deadly disease. ...> Full Article

Viruses con bacteria into working for them (1/30/2012)

MIT researchers have discovered that certain photosynthetic ocean bacteria need to beware of viruses bearing gifts. These viruses are really con artists carrying genetic material taken from their previous bacterial hosts that tricks the new host into using its own machinery to activate the genes, a process never before documented in any virus-bacteria relationship. The con occurs when a grifter virus injects its DNA into a bacterium living in a phosphorus-starved region of the ocean. ...> Full Article

Vaccines to boost immunity where it counts, not just near shot site (1/29/2012)

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have created synthetic nanoparticles that target lymph nodes and greatly boost vaccine responses, said lead author Ashley St. John, Ph.D. ...> Full Article

Microbubbles provide new boost for biofuel production (1/29/2012)

A solution to the difficult issue of harvesting algae for use as a biofuel has been developed using microbubble technology pioneered at the University of Sheffield. ...> Full Article

Team discovers how protein in teardrops annihilates harmful bacteria (1/28/2012)

A disease-fighting protein in our teardrops has been tethered to a tiny transistor, enabling UC Irvine scientists to discover exactly how it destroys dangerous bacteria. The research could prove critical to long-term work aimed at diagnosing cancers and other illnesses in their very early stages. ...> Full Article

Hardy bacteria help make case for life in the extreme (1/27/2012)

The bottom of a glacier is not the most hospitable place on Earth, but at least two types of bacteria happily live there, according to researchers. ...> Full Article

A new way to stimulate the immune system and fight infection (1/26/2012)

A study carried out by Eric Vivier and Sophie Ugolini at the Marseille-Luminy Centre for Immunology has just reveal a gene in mice which, when mutated, can stimulate the immune system to help fight against tumors and viral infections. Whilst this gene was known to activate one of the body's first lines of defense (Natural Killer, or 'NK' cells), paradoxically, when deactivated it makes these NK cells hypersensitive to the warning signals sent out by diseased cells. ...> Full Article

Study reveals potential of manganese in neutralizing deadly Shiga toxin (1/25/2012)

Carnegie Mellon researchers have discovered that manganese, an element commonly found in nature, might provide a way to neutralize the potentially lethal effects Shiga toxin. New results published in the Jan. 20 issue of Science could pave the way for future research aimed at creating an inexpensive treatment for infections caused by bacteria that produce the Shiga toxin. Currently there is no treatment for such infections that afflict more than 150 million people each year, resulting in more than one million deaths worldwide. ...> Full Article

Unveiling malaria's 'cloak of invisibility' (1/24/2012)

The discovery by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of a molecule that is key to malaria's 'invisibility cloak' will help to better understand how the parasite causes disease and escapes from the defenses mounted by the immune system. ...> Full Article

From field to biorefinery: Computer model optimizes biofuel operations (1/23/2012)

Research into biofuel crops such as switchgrass and Miscanthus has focused mainly on how to grow these crops and convert them into fuels. But many steps lead from the farm to the biorefinery, and each could help or hinder the growth of this new industry. A new computer model can simplify this transition, running millions of simulations and optimizing operations to bring down costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions or achieve other goals. ...> Full Article

Scientists shed new light on link between 'killer cells' and diabetes (1/22/2012)

Killer T-cells in the human body which help protect us from disease can inadvertently destroy cells that produce insulin, new research has uncovered. ...> Full Article

Defective cell 'battery' plays central role in neurodegenerative disease (1/21/2012)

A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells. ...> Full Article

Anthrax capsule vaccine protects monkeys from lethal infection (1/20/2012)

Vaccination with the anthrax capsule -- a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease -- protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to US Army scientists. The study, which appears in the Jan. 20th print edition of the journal VACCINE, represents the first successful use of a non-toxin vaccine to protect monkeys from the disease. ...> Full Article

Scientists identify novel approach to view inner workings of viruses (1/19/2012)

Researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, have developed a new way to see structures within viruses that were not clearly seen before. Their findings are reported in the Jan. 13 issue of Science. ...> Full Article

New information on the waste-disposal units of living cells (1/18/2012)

Berkeley researchers have provided the most detailed look ever at the "regulatory particle" used by the proteasome - one of the most critical protein machines in living cells - to identify and degrade proteins marked for destruction. This new information holds implications for a broad range of vital biochemical processes, including transcription, DNA repair and the immune defense system. ...> Full Article

Researchers locate protein that could 'turn off' deadly disease carrier (1/17/2012)

Genome sequencing leads to the identification of a protein crucial to the work of two parasites as they spread a pair of deadly diseases, toxoplasmosis and malaria. ...> Full Article

In tackling lead pollution, fungi may be our friends (1/16/2012)

Fungi may be unexpected allies in our efforts to keep hazardous lead under control. That's based on the unexpected discovery that fungi can transform lead into its most stable mineral form. The findings suggest that this interaction between fungi and lead may be occurring in nature anywhere the two are found together. It also suggests that the introduction or encouragement of fungi may be a useful treatment strategy for lead-polluted sites. ...> Full Article

Algae for your fuel tank (1/14/2012)

The available amount of fossil fuels is limited and their combustion in vehicle motors increases atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The generation of fuels from biomass as an alternative is on the rise. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Johannes A. Lercher and his team at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now introduced a new catalytic process that allows the effective conversion of biopetroleum from microalgae into diesel fuels. ...> Full Article

Scientists look to microbes to unlock Earth's deep secrets (1/13/2012)

Of all the habitable parts of our planet, one ecosystem still remains largely unexplored and unknown to science: The igneous ocean crust.This rocky realm of hard volcanic lava exists beneath ocean sediments that lie at the bottom of much of the world's oceans.While scientists have estimated that microbes living in deep ocean sediments may represent as much as one-third of Earth's total biomass, the habitable portion of the rocky ocean crust may be 10 times as great. ...> Full Article

New findings about the way cells work (1/12/2012)

Dr. Philip Marsden has made new discoveries about the basic workings of endothelial cells that could lead to a diagnostic test for the serious kidney disease known as hemolytic uremic syndrome and a possible treatment. ...> Full Article

Implanted biofuel cell converts bug's chemistry into electricity (1/11/2012)

An insect's internal chemicals can be converted to electricity, potentially providing power for sensors, recording devices or to control the bug, a group of researchers at Case Western Reserve University report. The key to converting the chemical energy is using enzymes in series at the anode. ...> Full Article

Flatworms' minimalist approach to cell division reveals molecular architecture of human centrosome (1/10/2012)

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered that planarians, tiny flatworms fabled for their regenerative powers, completely lack centrosomes, cellular structures that organize the network of microtubules that pulls chromosomes apart during cell division. ...> Full Article

Scientists 'hijack' bacterial immune system (1/9/2012)

The knowledge that bacteria possess adaptable immune systems that protect them from individual viruses and other foreign invaders is relatively new to science, and researchers across the globe are working to learn how these systems function and to apply that knowledge in industry and medicine. Now, a team of researchers has discovered how to harness this bacterial immune system to selectively target and silence genes. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify novel compound to halt virus replication (1/8/2012)

BUSM researchers identify novel compound to halt virus replication. ...> Full Article

Manipulating the way bacteria 'talk' could have practical applications, Texas A&M profs say (1/7/2012)

By manipulating the way bacteria "talk" to each other, researchers at Texas A&M University have achieved an unprecedented degree of control over the formation and dispersal of biofilms -- a finding with potentially significant health and industrial applications, particularly to bioreactor technology. ...> Full Article

No more free rides for 'piggy-backing' viruses (1/6/2012)

Scientists have determined the structure of the enzyme endomannosidase, significantly advancing our understanding of how a group of devastating human viruses including HIV and Hepatitis C hijack human enzymes to reproduce and cause disease ...> Full Article

Smaller sibling protein calls the shots in cell division (1/5/2012)

Scientists have found at least one instance when the smaller sibling gets to call the shots and cancer patients may one day benefit. ...> Full Article

Enzyme that flips switch on cells' sugar cravings could be anti-cancer target (1/4/2012)

Cancer cells tend to take up more glucose than healthy cells, and researchers are increasingly interested in exploiting this tendency with drugs that target cancer cells' altered metabolism. ...> Full Article

Scientists reveal how bacteria build homes inside healthy cells (1/3/2012)

Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells. A team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates. ...> Full Article

A single cell endoscope (1/2/2012)

Berkeley Lab researchers have developed a nanowire endoscope that can provide high-resolution optical images of the interior of a single living cell, or precisely deliver genes, proteins, therapeutic drugs or other cargo without injuring or damaging the cell. ...> Full Article

Badwater Basin: Death Valley microbe thrives there (1/2/2012)

Nevada, the "Silver State," is well-known for mining precious metals.But scientists Dennis Bazylinski and colleagues at the University of Nevada Las Vegas do a different type of mining.They sluice through every water body they can find, looking for new forms of microbial magnetism. ...> Full Article

Legumes give nitrogen-supplying bacteria special access pass (1/1/2012)

A 125-year debate on how nitrogen-fixing bacteria are able to breach the cell walls of legumes has been settled. A paper to be published on Monday by John Innes Centre scientists reports that plants themselves allow bacteria in. The fact that legumes themselves call the shots is a great finding but it also shows the complexity of the challenge to try to transfer the process to non-legumes. ...> Full Article