Pathogen News and Research

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New Insights into Pseudomonas syringae Toxin’s Impact on Non-Flowering Plants

The capacity of bacteria to spread disease across the Plant Kingdom may be much more widespread than previously suspected, according to new analysis.

20 Dec 2024

Silver-Containing Showerheads Fail to Reduce Pathogens in Real-World Conditions

To guard against harmful waterborne pathogens, many consumers, including managers of health-care facilities, install antimicrobial silver-containing showerheads.

19 Dec 2024

Coffee Wilt Fungus Gains New Abilities Through Genetic Theft

Subsequent outbreaks of coffee wilt disease were caused by the fungus that causes the disease repeatedly absorbing DNA segments from a related fungal pathogen.

6 Dec 2024

Stanford Researchers Develop New Approach to Make Cancer Cells Self-Destruct

Our bodies divest themselves of 60 billion cells every day through a natural process of cell culling and turnover called apoptosis.

28 Nov 2024

New Insights Into Salmonella’s Ability to Manipulate the Gut Microbiota

Salmonella, a leading source of food poisoning, can enter the gut even in the presence of beneficial bacteria, according to a recent study from the University of California Davis Health.

18 Nov 2024

Unveiling the Mechanisms of Phenotypic Heterogeneity in M. tuberculosis

The only single-celled organism ever found to sustain a steady growth rate throughout its life cycle is the rod-shaped tuberculosis (TB) bacterium, which the World Health Organization has once again named the leading infectious disease killer worldwide.

18 Nov 2024

Plastics in Wastewater Found to Harbor Foodborne Pathogens

The study identifies pathogens in plastispheres from WWTPs, underscoring the environmental risks of microplastics and the need for better management strategies.

18 Nov 2024

Intricate Relationship Between Goblet Cells and the Gut Microbiome

In a new study, scientists from the University of California, San Diego have shed light on the crucial function goblet cells—specialized gut-lining cells—play in preserving a balanced and healthy immune environment in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Dr. Fernanda Raya Tonetti led the project, and Dr. Cristina Llorente made important contributions.

13 Nov 2024

MIT Engineers Develop Model to Decode Complex Biological Systems

Over the past two decades, new technologies have helped scientists generate a vast amount of biological data. Large-scale experiments in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and cytometry can produce enormous quantities of data from a given cellular or multicellular system.

6 Nov 2024

New Lab-Grown Lip Cells Could Transform Research and Treatment for Disfiguring Lip Conditions

We use our lips to talk, eat, drink, and breathe; they signal our emotions, health, and aesthetic beauty. It takes a complex structure to perform so many roles, so lip problems can be hard to repair effectively. Basic research is essential to improving these treatments, but until now, models using lip cells -; which perform differently to other skin cells -; have not been available.

4 Nov 2024

Immortalized Lip Cells Open Doors for Testing New Therapies

4 Nov 2024

Unveiling the Molecular Mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas10's Cellular Shutdown

CRISPR-Cas9 can elegantly and precisely cut away any desired region of DNA and has long been compared to a type of genetic scissors.

29 Oct 2024

New Insights into SARS-CoV-2’s Evasion of Innate Immunity

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has an enzyme that can counteract a cell's innate defense mechanism against viruses, explaining why it is more infectious than the previous SARS and MERS-causing viruses.

23 Oct 2024

Structural Insights into Bacteriophages Open Doors for New Therapeutics

The viruses that infect bacteria are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. For example, a recent simple study of 92 showerheads and 36 toothbrushes from American bathrooms found more than 600 types of bacterial viruses, commonly called bacteriophages or phages.

23 Oct 2024

Research Sheds Light on Biofilm Bacteria Interactions and Competition

Biofilms -; slimy communities of bacteria -; grow on all sorts of surfaces: from glaciers and hot springs to plant roots, your bathtub and fridge, wounds, and medical devices such as catheters.

18 Oct 2024

29 Novel Antibodies Targeting Drug-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Identified

Research at UMC Utrecht has identified 29 novel antibodies against the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, an important cause of drug-resistant infections.

27 Sep 2024

Genome-Scale Analysis Reveals Cholera's Evolution

The genetic components that make the cholera-causing bacterium so lethal have been identified by experts using a state-of-the-art computational method, and this information may be crucial to averting the terrible illness.

24 Sep 2024

Unveiling the Molecular Mechanisms of Shigella flexneri Infection

Virginia Tech researchers have learned how bacteria manipulate molecules to infect the host organism.

23 Sep 2024

A New Understanding of the Effects of Fever on Immune Cells

Fever temperatures rev up immune cell metabolism, proliferation and activity, but they also -; in a particular subset of T cells -; cause mitochondrial stress, DNA damage and cell death, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have discovered.

23 Sep 2024

Harnessing the Power of Beneficial Bacteria to Fight Enterobacteriaceae

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections often occur in patients with chronic inflammatory intestinal conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, and in patients who have taken antibiotics for a long time. Gram-negative bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae are a common cause of these infections and have few treatment options. Fecal microbiota transplants have shown promise to curb some of these infections, but their composition varies between batches and they aren't always successful.

23 Sep 2024