Tick protein does the trick to fight infection
A protein in ticks that protects them against the cold could inspire a new class of antibiotics for humans, according to a Yale University study.
View ArticleStudy examines role of microbes, their effect on infectious disease dynamics...
The adult human body is made up of about 37 trillion cells. Microbes, mainly bacteria, outnumber body cells by 10 to 1. Increasingly, scientists recognize that this huge community of microbes, called...
View ArticleProbing bacterial resistance to a class of natural antibiotics
Antimicrobial peptides are a distinctive class of potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics produced by the body's innate immune system—the first line of defense against disease-causing microbes.
View ArticleNew study offers novel insights into pathogen behavior
A new study by a team of researchers that includes University of Notre Dame scientists Joshua Shrout and Mark Alber provides new insights into the behavior of an important bacterial pathogen.
View ArticleArea-wide management a must for Asian citrus psyllid
The Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) carries a bacterial pathogen that causes citrus greening disease (huanglongbing), which is destroying trees in many countries and states, including Florida....
View ArticleNew detection technologies for bacterial pathogens
In FP7 jargon, RAPTADIAG is categorised as a 'small or medium-scale focused research project'. However, the past two years have seen the consortium turn a novel diagnostic test for bacterial meningitis...
View ArticleHost influences bacterial metabolism
Bacteria are masters in adapting to their environment. This adaptability contributes to the bacteria's survival inside their host. Researchers at the Vetmeduni Vienna now demonstrated that the...
View ArticlePlants detect bacterial endotoxin in similar process to mammals
Similar to humans and animals, plants possess an innate immune system that protects them from invading pathogens. Molecular structures that only occur in pathogens enable their recognition and trigger...
View ArticleA 'warhead' molecule to hunt down deadly bacteria
Targeting deadly, drug-resistant bacteria poses a serious challenge to researchers looking for antibiotics that can kill pathogens without causing collateral damage in human cells. A team of Boston...
View ArticleAntimicrobial CRISPR-Cas systems may be better weapons against bacteria than...
Antibiotics are compounds that can kill bacteria. Many antibiotics are produced naturally by bacteria themselves as they compete for food or living space with other bacterial species. Over time,...
View ArticleViruses: You've heard the bad—here's the good
"The word, virus, connotes morbidity and mortality, but that bad reputation is not universally deserved," said Marilyn Roossinck, PhD, Professor of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology and...
View ArticleScientists develop new technique for analyzing the epigenetics of bacteria
Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a new technique to more precisely analyze bacterial populations, to reveal epigenetic mechanisms that can drive virulence. The...
View ArticleEngineered particles produce toxins deadly to targeted bacteria
The global rise in antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to public health, damaging our ability to fight deadly infections such as tuberculosis.
View ArticleProtecting plants from stealthy diseases
Stealthy diseases sometimes trick plants by hijacking their defense signaling system, which issues an alarm that diverts plant resources for the wrong attack and allows the enemy pathogens to easily...
View ArticleBacteria and bacteriophages collude in the formation of clinically...
Scientists know a lot about bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. Medical practitioners likewise understand the clinical dangers of biofilms: slimy, antibiotic-defying aggregates of bacteria...
View ArticleResearch team identifies key step in process of Shigella infection
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Division of Infectious Diseases are investigating the mechanism by which several important pathogenic species of bacteria deliver proteins into...
View Article'Phage' fishing yields new weapon against antibiotic resistance
Yale researchers were fishing for a new weapon against antibiotic resistance and found one floating in a Connecticut pond, they report May 26 in the journal Scientific Reports.
View ArticleStudy finds sensing mechanism in food poisoning bug
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have uncovered a mechanism that a type of pathogenic bacteria found in shellfish use to sense when they are in the human gut, where they release toxins that...
View ArticleOrthosomycins bind to bacterial ribosome site not used by any other antibiotic
An LMU team has shown that orthosomycins bind to a site on the bacterial ribosome that is not used by any other antibiotic. The finding could lead to agents that are effective against existing...
View ArticleNew bacterial pathogen found in corn in Texas
A new bacterial pathogen, bacterial streak, was found in the Texas Panhandle corn crop this year, and while its effects were inconsequential, it bears watching in the future, according to Texas A&M...
View ArticleResearch team captures images of pathogens' tiny 'syringes'
Salmonella and many other bacterial pathogens use a nano syringe-like device to deliver toxic proteins into target human cells. Now scientists at Yale and University of Texas Medical School-Houston...
View ArticleDeadly pathogen to cure itself?
A Massey professor of microbiology has led new research that could yield a vaccine against an emerging deadly pathogen that has proven resistant to various treatments.
View ArticleScientists uncover mechanism allowing bacteria to survive the human immune...
Researchers have uncovered molecular details of how pathogenic bacteria fight back against the human immune response to infection.
View ArticleDNA delivery technology joins battle against drug-resistant bacteria
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, affecting anyone, at any age, in any country, according to the World Health Organization. Currently, 700,000 deaths each year...
View ArticleTeam discovers new paradigm for describing trophic cascades caused by...
When gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, they sparked a resurgence of aspen trees.
View ArticlePlastic films incorporating N-halamines could sanitize food production...
Specially designed plastic films can prevent bacterial contamination in the food and biomedical industries, according to research published August 11 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
View ArticleStudy reveals mechanisms of fighting pathogenic viruses
Researchers of the KFU Omics Lab have succeeded in deciphering a Phi29-family virus genome. Junior researcher Raihan Shah Mahmud of Kazan Federal University says, "There is an immense number of viruses...
View ArticleThe bacteria responsible for legionellosis modulates the host cell metabolism...
Scientists have shown that the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila has developed a specific strategy to target host cell mitochondria, the organelles in charge of cellular bioenergetics. Their...
View ArticleNovel transdisciplinary study uncovers microbes that may one day deter major...
To date, scientists are increasingly studying the structure of microbial communities and their composition associated with plants, but few have been doing so in the context of vascular diseases.
View ArticleBacteria have a sense of touch
Although bacteria have no sensory organs in the classical sense, they are still masters in perceiving their environment. A research group at the University of Basel's Biozentrum has now discovered that...
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