Microbiology

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Scientists Uncover Unexpected Mechanism Behind Extreme Antibiotic Resistance

A patient with a severe infection is prescribed a potent antibiotic. Hopes for improvement are high, but just after treatment is given, resistance to the drug increases thousands of times. How could this happen?

24 Jul 2026

Researchers Find New Bacterial Mechanism for Evading Antibiotic Exposure

Antibiotics are a medical marvel, but many microbes are gaining the ability to resist and tolerate these therapeutics.

24 Jul 2026

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

New Research Explains How Toxoplasma Parasite Bookmarks Its Genes

A parasite carried by billions of people worldwide often causes harmful infections during pregnancy, in immunocompromised individuals, and is the cause of a leading infectious blindness in South America.

22 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

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

UC Riverside Identifies How Tick Borne Viruses Evade Immunity

A study led by a University of California, Riverside biomedical scientist shows how a family of tick-borne viruses known as orthonairoviruses can evade immune defenses, offering important insights into emerging infectious disease threats and the potential pandemic risk posed by these viruses.

15 Jul 2026