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Bacterial TGT Enzyme Engages Two tRNAs to Control Protein Production

The enzyme tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT) chemically modifies transfer RNA (tRNA) and plays a key role in how disease-causing bacteria control the production of proteins needed to cause infection. E. coli TGT is nearly identical to the one found in Shigella, which causes the intestinal infection shigellosis.

23 Jul 2026

Changes in RNA Regulation Enable Bacteria to Enter Antibiotic Tolerance

Antibiotics are a medical marvel, but many microbes are gaining the ability to resist and tolerate these therapeutics. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have uncovered how S. pneumoniae adapts to antibiotic exposure and immune pressures.

23 Jul 2026

Bacteria Use CRISPR-Cas to Control Diverse Innate Defense Systems

All cellular life-from humans to bacteria-possesses two layers of immunity: innate and adaptive. Scientists have long understood how these two types of immunity work together in higher organisms but not in the microbial world.

23 Jul 2026

Soil Microbial Communities Reorganize to Enhance Stability During Ecosystem Retrogression

This study, led by Dr. Javier A. Ceja-Navarro at Northern Arizona University, examined how soil microbial communities respond to ecosystem retrogression, a stage of ecosystem development characterized by declining productivity and increasing nutrient limitation.

22 Jul 2026

Tough Bacterial Spores Unlock New Bioengineering Frontiers

A remarkable quality of bioengineering is the fact that scientists can take biological processes honed by millions of years of evolution and use them to efficiently create drugs, chemicals, and other products to improve our lives.

21 Jul 2026

How Dying Bacteria Protect the Colony From Antibiotics

Bacteria can fight against antibiotics via an enzyme produced by dying cells.

17 Jul 2026

New Chicken Immune Pathway Bypasses Vital Bursa of Fabricius

Birds possess a specialized organ called the bursa of Fabricius which mammals do not have.

17 Jul 2026

Sweeteners Shown to Slow Growth of Important Gut Bacteria in Lab Tests

Cambridge researchers have shown how commonly-used sweeteners slow the growth of certain gut bacteria.

16 Jul 2026

Why Rare E. coli Genes Rarely Create New Metabolic Functions

A study reveals that rare E. coli genes mainly reshape existing metabolic reactions, highlighting genetic diversity without expanding biochemical pathways.

16 Jul 2026

Fungal Resistance Requires Healthy Genetic Traits and Intact Natural Landscapes

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that a frog's resistance to a fungus that has decimated hundreds of amphibian species worldwide is due not only to its genes, but also to the beneficial bacteria living on its skin and to the organization of its surrounding landscape.

16 Jul 2026

Superbug Discovery Overturns Long-Held Public Health Beliefs

A new study published in Nature Communications reveals a hidden source of antibiotic resistance, providing an early warning sign for researchers and public health officials.

16 Jul 2026

New Microbiome Study Reveals Natural Defense Mechanism Restricting Candida Albicans

A metabolic byproduct formed when gut bacteria break down dietary fiber appears to protect against dangerous fungal infections common in immunocompromised patients, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers shows.

15 Jul 2026

Gut Bacteria Metabolites Successfully Boost Immune Response to Melanoma Tumors

A new study from a team including University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers is the first to show metabolites produced by certain bacteria in the gut can positively impact the body's immune response to cancer.

15 Jul 2026

Genetically Stable Bacteriophages Open New Frontiers for Fighting Crop Disease

Researchers have discovered that a group of viruses known to infect an agriculturally important plant pathogen has remained genetically stable for an astonishing four decades.

14 Jul 2026

Novel Strategy Weaponizes Tumor Cleaning Systems Against Multiple Myeloma

New research out of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center provides promising evidence for an innovative combination treatment strategy that uses cells' waste removal functions to effectively dismantle multiple myeloma.

14 Jul 2026

Intermicrobial Antagonism Controls Essential Bacteria Populations in Human Guts

Mougous, John F. Enders Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), studies bacterial warfare, or how different microbes defend their ecological niches against other species.

14 Jul 2026

Single Experiment Tool Allows Researchers to Test Thousands of Proteins

To prevent viruses from sickening or killing us - whether it's an individual case of hepatitis B or a COVID pandemic - it's crucial to understand how the proteins they make initiate changes in our bodies that allow them to flourish.

11 Jul 2026

Next-Generation Biosensing Shows How Bacteriophages Revolutionize Bacterial Disease Detection

Pathogenic bacteria remain a persistent threat to public health, food supplies, and water systems, particularly as antimicrobial resistance makes infections increasingly difficult to treat.

11 Jul 2026

Using Bacteriophages to Treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease

A research team at McMaster University has developed a targeted approach to treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using bacteriophages, viruses that infect specific bacteria, to disarm harmful microbes without disrupting the broader gut ecosystem.

9 Jul 2026

Gut Microbiome Signatures Correlate With Clinical Efficacy in Immunotherapy Outcomes

Cancer remains notoriously difficult to treat, partly because tumors co‑opt their surrounding environment, including the resident microbiota, to evade immune surveillance and resist conventional therapies.

9 Jul 2026