Microbiology Now - September 2011 Archives

Scientists reveal how organisms avoid carbon monoxide poisoning (9/30/2011)

Scientists have discovered how living organisms -- including humans -- avoid poisoning from carbon monoxide generated by natural cell processes. ...> Full Article

Saltwater boosts microbial electrolysis cells to cleanly produce hydrogen (9/29/2011)

A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, according to Penn State engineers. ...> Full Article

Observed 'live': Water is an active team player for enzymes (9/28/2011)

In biologically active enzyme substrate compounds, as can be found in medicines, water plays a more decisive role than has been imagined up to now. The surrounding water acts like an "adhesive," in order to keep the substrate at the right place on an enzyme. For this, the dynamism of the water is retarded. ...> Full Article

Turning waste into inexpensive, green fuel (9/27/2011)

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the Bourns College of Engineering have received two grants to further explore a process they developed that turns waste into inexpensive, green fuels. ...> Full Article

Outsmarting algae -- scientist finds the turn-off switch (9/26/2011)

Rochester Institute of Technology scientist André Hudson and colleagues have deciphered the structure of an essential enzyme in algae, critical to algaecide development. ...> Full Article

Spiral constriction -- how dynamin mediates cellular nutrient uptake (9/26/2011)

Dr. Katja Fälber and professor Oliver Daumke, structural biologists at the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch, together with researchers from Freie Universitaet Berlin, have determined the molecular structure of dynamin, a "wire-puller" that mediates nutrient uptake into the cell. Since pathogens such as HIV can also enter the body's cells in this way, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms can potentially open up new approaches for medical applications. ...> Full Article

CSI: Microbial version without PCR (9/25/2011)

Berkeley Lab researchers have developed PCR-free techniques for identifying the most active microbial populations in samples based on the PhyloChip, the Lab's award-winning, high-density DNA microarray. These new techniques will be used in a wide variety of applications including the development of advanced biofuels. ...> Full Article

In immune cells, 'super-res' imaging reveals natural killers' M.O. (9/25/2011)

Making use of a new "super resolution" microscope that provides sharp images at extremely small scales, scientists have achieved unprecedented views of the immune system in action. The new tool, a stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscope, shows how granules from natural killer cells pass through openings in dynamic cell structures to destroy their targets: tumor cells and cells infected by viruses. ...> Full Article

Cowpox virus: Old friend but new foe (9/24/2011)

Recent findings from an international consortium including the group of Norbert Nowotny at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna suggest that smallpox vaccines come from central or eastern Europe. The results have been published in the prestigious online journal PLoS one. The work is not merely of historical interest: since the cessation of smallpox vaccination there has been a rise in cases of related diseases and pox viruses once again represent a serious threat to public health. ...> Full Article

Vacuum-like device makes cellular exploration easier (9/24/2011)

Imagine a microscopic jet vacuum cleaner, the size of a pen nib that hovers over cell surfaces without ever touching them. Then imagine that the soap in the cleaning solution is replaced with various molecules that can be selectively delivered to the cells. This gives you a sense of a new device that researchers believe will serve as a powerful tool to study the behavior of living cells and a range of crucial cellular processes. ...> Full Article

Biochemical cell signals quantified for first time (9/24/2011)

Just as cell phones and computers transmit data through electronic networks, the cells of your body send and receive chemical messages through molecular pathways. The term "cell signaling" was coined more than 30 years ago to describe this process. For the first time, scientists have quantified the data capacity of a biochemical signaling pathway and found a surprise -- it's lower than a dial-up modem. Science is publishing the discovery made at Emory and Johns Hopkins. ...> Full Article

Unknown ocean bacteria create entirely new theories (9/23/2011)

The earth's most successful bacteria are found in the oceans and belong to the group SAR11. In a new study, researchers from Uppsala University provide an explanation for their success and at the same time call into question generally accepted theories about these bacteria. In their analysis they have also identified a rare and hitherto unknown relative of mitochondria, the power stations inside cells. ...> Full Article

Small molecule receptor detects lipid's telltale sign of cell death (9/23/2011)

Dying cells can provide crucial clues to researchers, oncologists and patients about the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs. But accurately detecting apoptotic cells in a timely and consistent way has proved frustrating. A team of Boston College researcher reports it has developed a small molecule receptor capable of detecting the biological signs of dying cells. ...> Full Article

Cellular communications visualized with a vibrant color palette (9/22/2011)

A University of Alberta-led research team has dramatically expanded the palette of fluorescent highlighters that can be used to track the movement of messengers inside of single cells. ...> Full Article

Cacao collection expedition may yield weapons for combating witches' broom disease (9/21/2011)

Fungi found in the leaves and trunks of wild Peruvian cacao trees offer the potential for biological control of cacao diseases such as witches' broom disease, according to US Department of Agriculture scientists. Several of the fungal species were previously unknown to science. ...> Full Article

Scientists offer way to address 'age-old' questions (9/21/2011)

Scientists have devised a method to measure the impact of age on the growth rates of cellular populations, a development that offers new ways to understand and model the growth of bacteria, and could provide new insights into how genetic factors affect their life cycle. ...> Full Article

Chinese researchers identify insect host species of a famous Tibetan medicinal fungus (9/20/2011)

Based on an extensive survey of the literature pertaining to the Chinese caterpillar fungus, a fungus with high medicinal and economic values, a team of researchers from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, investigated a total of 91 insect species and found 57 of these to be potential hosts to the fungus. The study was published in the open-access journal ZooKeys. ...> Full Article

Scientists shine a light on the detection of bacterial infection (9/20/2011)

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed polymers that fluoresce in the presence of bacteria, paving the way for the rapid detection and assessment of wound infection using ultra-violet light. ...> Full Article

NTU opens $120 million centre to harness powers of biofilms (9/19/2011)

The Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), aims to achieve innovative solutions through the study of microbial biofilms. ...> Full Article

Microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste (9/19/2011)

Researchers at Michigan State University have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals. Details of the process, which can be improved and patented, are published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination, said Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist. ...> Full Article

When ticks transmit dangerous pathogens (9/18/2011)

Blood-sucking ticks are not just a nuisance, they can also transmit dangerous diseases. One of them is Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia, and requires a course of treatment with antibiotics lasting several weeks. LMU researchers have come up with a quicker alternative. ...> Full Article

Cellular metabolism self-adapts to protect against free radicals (9/18/2011)

Feedback mechanism coordinates cellular respiration and the degradation of free oxygen radicals. ...> Full Article

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir (9/17/2011)

Max Planck researchers from Jena and Tuebingen, Germany, elucidated the structure of an enzyme from Microbacterium arborescens able to accumulate several hundred iron ions, depending on the iron supply situation in its environment: for example in the larval gut of the Beet Armyworm Spodoptera exigua. Moreover, it catalyzes the formation of N-acyl glutamines (glutamine/fatty acid conjugates). Plants recognize the caterpillar with the help of these conjugates and initiate their chemical defense against the invader. ...> Full Article

Researchers expand capabilities of miniature analyzer for complex samples (9/16/2011)

A research team working at NIST has extended the capabilities a a novel microfluidic lab-on-a-chip system for analyzing the chemical components of complex biological samples. ...> Full Article

Group applies new techniques and sees surprises in cell division (9/15/2011)

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have obtained the first high-resolution, three-dimensional images of a cell with a nucleus undergoing cell division. The observations, made using a powerful imaging technique in combination with a new method for slicing cell samples, indicate that one of the characteristic steps of mitosis is significantly different in some cells. ...> Full Article

New chemical reagent turns mouse brain transparent (9/15/2011)

Researchers at RIKEN, Japan's flagship research organization, have developed a ground-breaking new aqueous reagent which literally turns biological tissue transparent. Experiments using fluorescence microscopy on samples treated with the reagent, published this week in Nature Neuroscience, have produced vivid 3D images of neurons and blood vessels deep inside the mouse brain. Highly effective and cheap to produce, the reagent offers an ideal means for analyzing the complex organs and networks that sustain living systems. ...> Full Article

The battle of the morphogens: How to get ahead in the nervous system (9/14/2011)

If you think today's political rhetoric is overheated, imagine what goes on inside a vertebrate embryo. There, two armies whose agendas are poles apart, engage in a battle with consequences much more dire than whether the economy will recover -- they are battling for whether you (or frogs or chickens) will have a forebrain. ...> Full Article

When it comes to speaking out, cells wait their turn (9/14/2011)

Dr. David Sprinzak of Tel Aviv University has discovered the mechanism that allows cells to switch from sender to receiver mode, inhibiting their own signals while receiving information from other cells. With this knowledge, researchers may be able to develop new cancer drugs that specifically target these transactions, potentially stopping cancer's uncontrollable proliferation. ...> Full Article

Microbes travel through the air; it would be good to know how and where (9/14/2011)

Preliminary research on Fusarium, a group of fungi that includes devastating pathogens of plants and animals, shows how these microbes travel through the air. Virginia Tech researchers now believe that with improvements on this preliminary research, there will be a better understanding about crop security, disease spread and climate change. ...> Full Article

Reports highlight the evolving role of clinical microbiology laboratories (9/13/2011)

With the increasing availability of sophisticated technologies to rapidly diagnose and treat infectious diseases, the duties and the role of clinical laboratory microbiologists, who traditionally perform these tests, could see significant changes in the next few years. That is one of the conclusions of a series of reports published in a special supplement to the September 2011 Journal of Clinical Microbiology. ...> Full Article

Orchestrator of waste removal rescues cells that can't manage their trash (9/13/2011)

Now, a new study published by Cell Press on Sept. 1 in the journal Developmental Cell describes a master regulator of the intracellular recycling and waste removal process and suggests an alternative strategy for treatment of metabolic disorders associated with the abnormal accumulation of waste in the cell. ...> Full Article

Novel method for increasing antibiotic yields (9/13/2011)

A novel way of increasing the amounts of antibiotics produced by bacteria has been discovered that could markedly improve the yields of these important compounds in commercial production. It could also be valuable in helping to discover new compounds. With the ever-growing threat from antibiotic resistance, these tools will be very useful in ensuring that we have enough of these useful compounds in the future. ...> Full Article

Up from the depths: How bacteria capture carbon in the 'twilight zone' (9/12/2011)

Located between 200 and 1,000 meters below the ocean surface is a "twilight zone" where insufficient sunlight penetrates for microorganisms to perform photosynthesis. Details are now emerging about a microbial metabolic pathway that helps solve the mystery of how certain bacteria capture carbon in the dark ocean, enabling a better understanding of what happens to the carbon that is fixed in the oceans every year. They appear in the September 2, 2011, edition of Science. ...> Full Article

Researchers explain how railways within cells are built in order to transport essential cargos (9/12/2011)

Every cell in the human body contains a complex system to transport critical material such as proteins and membrane vesicles from one point to another. Bruce Goode, professor of biology, and his team have come one step closer to understanding the elusive mechanics of this process. ...> Full Article

Profiler at the cellular level (9/11/2011)

Researchers led by ETH professor Yaakov Benenson and MIT professor Ron Weiss have successfully incorporated a diagnostic biological "computer" network in human cells. This network recognizes certain cancer cells using logic combinations of five cancer-specific molecular factors, triggering cancer cells destruction. ...> Full Article

Viruses in the human gut show dynamic response to diet (9/10/2011)

The digestive system is home to a myriad of viruses, but how they are involved in health and disease is poorly understood. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have investigated the dynamics of virus populations in the human gut, shedding new light on the gut "virome" and how it differs between people and responds to changes in diet. ...> Full Article

New insight in how cells' powerhouse divides (9/9/2011)

New research from UC Davis and the University of Colorado at Boulder puts an unexpected twist on how mitochondria, the energy-generating structures within cells, divide. The work, which could have implications for a wide range of diseases and conditions, was published today (Sept. 2) in the journal Science. ...> Full Article

Going with the flow (9/9/2011)

Most cells rely on structural tethers to position chromosomes in preparation for cell division. Not so oocytes. Instead, a powerful intracellular stream pushes chromosomes far-off the center in preparation for the highly asymmetric cell division that completes oocyte maturation upon fertilization of the egg, report researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. ...> Full Article

From mild-mannered to killer plague (9/8/2011)

How did a bacterium that causes mild stomach irritation rapidly evolve into a deadly assassin responsible for the most devastating pandemics in human history? New DNA sequencing techniques reveal how Yersinia pseudotuberculosis became Yersinia pestis, otherwise know as the plague. The new study offers a glimpse into how the new technology might aid in the development of drugs to fight deadly diseases, including the plague. ...> Full Article

In cell culture, like real estate, the neighborhood matters (9/7/2011)

Ever since scientists first began growing human cells in lab dishes in 1952, they have focused on improving the chemical soup that feeds the cells and helps regulate their growth. But surfaces also matter, says Laura Kiessling, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ...> Full Article

Nano-thermometers show first temperature response differences within living cells (9/6/2011)

Using a modern version of open-wide-and-keep-this-under-your-tongue, scientists today reported taking the temperature of individual cells in the human body, and finding for the first time that temperatures inside do not adhere to the familiar 98.6 degree Fahrenheit norm. They presented the research at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here this week. ...> Full Article

Degrading proteins to divide cells (9/5/2011)

A group of scientists led by the IRB Barcelona researcher Ferran Azorín has identified the main instrument that Drosophila cells use to define the identity and function of the centromere in the Drosophila. A finely tuned process of degradation tightly regulates CenH3 protein levels to ensure the correct function of the cell division machinery in the fruit fly. ...> Full Article

Novel control of Dengue fever (9/4/2011)

The spread of Dengue fever in northern Australia may be controlled by a bacterium that infects mosquitoes that harbor the virus, Australian and US researchers report Aug. 25 in two papers published in the journal Nature. The result grew out of work more than 20 years ago by population biologist Michael Turelli, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, and Ary Hoffmann, now at the University of Melbourne, Australia. ...> Full Article

Scientists identify point of entry for deadly Ebola virus (9/3/2011)

Using an unusual human cell line of this type, Whitehead Institute researchers and their collaborators performed a genetic screen and identified a protein used by Ebola virus to gain entry into cells and begin replicating. The discovery may offer a new approach for the development of antiviral therapeutics. Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. ...> Full Article

Scientists develop new technologies for understanding bacterial infections (9/3/2011)

Understanding how bacteria infect cells is crucial to preventing countless human diseases. In a recent breakthrough, scientists from the University of Bristol have discovered a new approach for studying molecules within their natural environment, opening the door to understanding the complexity of how bacteria infect people. ...> Full Article

Panda poop may be a treasure trove of microbes for making biofuels (9/2/2011)

Panda poop contains bacteria with potent effects in breaking down plant material in the way needed to tap biomass as a major new source of "biofuels" produced not from corn and other food sources, but from grass, wood chips and crop wastes, scientists reported today at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ...> Full Article

Making tomorrow's bioenergy yeasts strong (9/2/2011)

Cornstalks, wheat straw, and other rough, fibrous, harvest-time leftovers may soon be less expensive to convert into cellulosic ethanol, thanks to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists' studies of a promising new biorefinery yeast. ...> Full Article

In the early life of an embryo, a monster lurks (9/1/2011)

Research based at Princeton University has revealed that newly fertilized cells only narrowly avoid degenerating into fatal chaos. At the same time, scientists have discovered that embryos have acquired a mechanism to contain this dangerous instability, a finding that could help biologists unravel other mysteries about the first hours of life. ...> Full Article

Tuning natural antimicrobials to improve their effectiveness at battling superbugs (9/1/2011)

Ongoing research at the Institute of Food Research is exploring the use of virus-produced proteins that destroy bacterial cells to combat potentially dangerous microbial infections. Bacteriophages produce endolysin proteins that specifically target certain bacteria, and IFR has been studying one that destroys Clostridium difficile, a common source of hospital-acquired infections. New research is showing that it is possible to "tune" these endolysin properties to increase their effectiveness and effectiveness as antimicrobial agents. ...> Full Article