Microbiology

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AutoPLP helps detect mutating pathogenic variants quickly and accurately

As we now know from our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, the microbes responsible for some infections can rapidly mutate into variants that evade detection and treatment.

16 Feb 2023

Effect of prune supplementation on the gut microbiome of postmenopausal women

New research published in the journal Food & Function indicates that daily prune consumption may improve the gut fecal microbiome of postmenopausal women. The fecal microbiome – the ecosystem of microorganisms found in one's fecal matter – reflects an individual's overall gut health. Results from the study showed notable enrichment in bacteria from the family Lachnospiraceae. This group of bacteria has been associated with an ability to decrease inflammatory markers in the body and help maintain the integrity of the gut barrier.

16 Feb 2023

New center at UCLA focuses on the microbiome’s role in disease prevention

Among the most promising areas of scientific inquiry is the study of the human microbiome and its effect on health. To fuel more rapid progress in this field, Andrea and Donald Goodman and Renee and Meyer Luskin have made a $20 million gift to establish the UCLA Goodman–Luskin Microbiome Center.

16 Feb 2023

Tackling child undernutrition by targeting the gut microbiome

According to research conducted by the Queen Mary University of London, nutritional interventions used to combat child undernutrition in low and middle-income countries should focus on gut microbiome development instead of just human nutritional needs in an attempt to improve child growth and development more efficaciously.

15 Feb 2023

New optical tool controls bacterial electrical signaling

Bacteria, like neurons in human brains, utilize electricity to interact and react to environmental cues. Scientists have now developed a strategy to regulate this electrical signaling in bacteria to better comprehend antibiotic resistance.

From The University of Warwick 15 Feb 2023

Lung immunity in neonates is influenced by the mother’s microbiota

A recent study led by Bruno Silva Santos, Group Leader and Vice-Director at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, found that a specific subset of white blood cells called γδ T cells affects the transfer of the mother’s microbiota during childbirth and breastfeeding and affects the infants’ lung immune response.

15 Feb 2023

Experts demonstrate clear differences in virulence among the major clades of mpox virus

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have removed a major roadblock to better understanding of mpox (formerly, monkeypox).

15 Feb 2023

Study reveals how two proteins enable drug-resistant MRSA bacterium to secrete toxins

Antimicrobial resistance represents one of the top 10 global public health threats according to the World Health Organization, and scientists have been scrambling to find new tools to cure the most deadly drug-resistant infections.

14 Feb 2023

Researchers discover target enzyme for blast disease

A fungus that plagues rice crops worldwide gains entry to plant cells in a way that leaves it vulnerable to simple chemical blockers, a discovery that could lead to new fungicides to reduce the substantial annual losses of rice and other valuable cereals.

14 Feb 2023

BlueRemediomics aims to synergize marine microbiome data and biobank resources from across Europe

The European Commission has funded the BlueRemediomics project, which will develop novel tools and approaches to cataloguing marine microbiome data and marine culture collections.

13 Feb 2023

Engineering a phage's DNA by introducing modified CRISPR-Cas machinery genes

Bacteriophages (or phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. They are the most abundant biological entity, and they can be found wherever bacteria live. To propagate themselves, phages inject their DNA into their bacterial hosts.

13 Feb 2023

New models provide better understanding of how life originated

The first signs of life emerged on Earth in the form of microbes about four billion years ago. While scientists are still determining exactly when and how these microbes appeared, it's clear that the emergence of life is intricately intertwined with the chemical and physical characteristics of early Earth.

13 Feb 2023

Specific types of gut fungi play a role in infant weight gain and growth

Researchers in the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) at the University of Calgary in collaboration with the Canadian CHILD Study have found a link between the diversity, or number, of fungal species in the infant gut and the body-mass index (BMI) of infants.

10 Feb 2023

Differences in the gut microbiomes of people with ME/CFS revealed

Discrepancies in the gut microbiomes of people having myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) than those of healthy controls have been disclosed by newly performed research.

9 Feb 2023

Licorice leaf extract: A potential plant protectant for traditional and organic farming

Pesticides are successful in defending crop yield against plant infections, but the ecological damage to nontarget organisms has led to a struggle between conventional and organic farming methods.

9 Feb 2023

New arsenal in the fight against superbugs

RMIT scientists have created a new type of antibiotic that can be rapidly re-engineered to avoid resistance by dangerous superbugs.

8 Feb 2023

Epigenetic editing to improve crops

One of the most significant crops in the tropics, cassava, provides food for 500 million people in more than 80 countries. The destructive disease known as cassava bacterial blight (CBB) results in crop losses all across the world.

8 Feb 2023

Understanding how tiny organisms thrive after wildfires

UC Riverside researchers have identified tiny organisms that not only survive but thrive during the first year after a wildfire. The findings could help bring land back to life after fires that are increasing in both size and severity.

8 Feb 2023

Analyzing the evolution of model organisms

A model organism used in laboratories for the past 100 years has evolved so extensively that it may no longer be fit for purpose.

8 Feb 2023

Protein that facilitates cancer-causing viruses dodge the immune system

Numerous cancers have been related to the viruses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). For the first time, UNC School of Medicine researchers have shown that these viruses elude the innate immune response by using a human protein called barrier-to-autointegration factor 1, or BAF, which enables the viruses to propagate and cause disease.

7 Feb 2023