Microorganism News and Research

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UCLA highlights the benefits of restful sleep for increased efficiency

According to the journal Science, the function of sleep is one of the 125 greatest unsolved mysteries in science. Theories range from brain "maintenance" - including memory consolidation and pruning - to reversing damage from oxidative stress suffered while awake, to promoting longevity. None of these theories are well established, and many are mutually exclusive.

21 Aug 2009

Biologist demystifies Acinetobacter baumannii

Tao Weitao, a researcher in the College of Sciences' Department of Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio is making great strides in a project that was funded one year ago by the San Antonio Area Foundation. The professor in the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases is researching Acinetobacter baumannii, a soil-dwelling bacterium that threatens the health of military personnel in the Middle East and can also infect their family members once the soldiers have returned home following battle.

17 Aug 2009

New bio-hybrid materials could be used as sensors, catalysts, drug-delivery systems, more

Bacteria play a role in myriad industrial processes from fermentation to cleaning up environmental pollution. But floating freely in solution, the microbial cells constantly multiply, generating biomass that must be removed periodically, causing downtime. Additionally, the microorganisms cannot be localized to a specific region of interest.

3 Aug 2009

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.

20 Jul 2009

Special pathway makes bacteria vulnerable - new target for tailored antibiotics

More and more strains of bacteria are developing resistance to previously life-saving antibiotics. Researchers at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have shed light on a metabolic step that appears in many aggressive microorganisms -- such as tuberculosis and malaria pathogens -- and that may provide a promising target for a new class of antibiotics. The researchers present their results in the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie.

14 Jul 2009

Researchers develop new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria

Researchers from Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany, develop new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria.

30 Jun 2009

Plant microbe shares features with drug-resistant pathogen - implications for biotech

An international team of scientists has discovered extensive similarities between a strain of bacteria commonly associated with plants and one increasingly linked to opportunistic infections in hospital patients. The findings suggest caution in the use of the plant-associated strain for a range of biotech applications. The genetic analysis was conducted in part at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, and will be published in the July 2009 issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology, now available online.

16 Jun 2009

First health study of teenage boys using cellular telephones

A $4.15 million, four-year National Institutes of Health grant will enable researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine to conduct the first health study of teenage boys using cellular telephones.

16 Jun 2009

The 'hijacking mechanism' of HIV-1 pinpointed

Researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital - along with colleagues at the University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia - may have found a chink in the armour of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the microorganism which causes AIDS. They have pinpointed the key cellular machinery co-opted by HIV-1 to hijack the human cell for its own benefit.

10 Jun 2009

New discovery about mycobacteria – implications for tuberculosis research

A close relative of the microorganism that causes tuberculosis in humans has been found to form spores. This is a sensational finding because researchers have long been convinced that these kinds of bacteria - the mycobacteria - were incapable of forming spores.

9 Jun 2009

Research identifies 3D structure of key nuclear pore building block

The genome of complex organisms is stashed away inside each cell's nucleus, a little like a sovereign shielded from the threatening world outside.

8 Jun 2009

Discovery of biochemical signals that help immune cells remember how to fight infection

Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how two biochemical signals play unique roles in promoting the development of a group of immune cells employed as tactical assassins.

28 May 2009

The evolution of gene regulation: How microbial neighbors settle differences

Even microbes are governed by the principle of supply and demand - at least at the genetic level. Not all of their gene products, the blueprints for proteins, are required at all times. That means most of their genes only become active when they are needed, as is the case in higher organisms.

26 May 2009

Private well water should be tested yearly to reduce health risks to children

Private well water should be tested yearly, and in some cases more often, according to new guidance offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

26 May 2009

DNA of uncultured organisms sequenced using novel single cell genome sequencing approach

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have assembled high quality, contamination-free draft genomes of uncultured biodegrading microorganisms using a novel single cell genome sequencing approach.

22 Apr 2009

New drink targeted for diabetics, individuals with high blood sugar

Scientists in China are reporting development of a low-calorie, low-sugar vegetable juice custom-designed for millions of individuals with diabetes and pre-diabetic conditions that involve abnormally high blood sugar.

29 Mar 2009

Nanoparticles in cosmetics may be harmful to the environment

Using aquatic microbes as their "canary-in-a-cage," scientists from Ohio have reported that nanoparticles now being added to cosmetics, sunscreens, and hundreds of other personal care products may be harmful to the environment.

29 Mar 2009

Sagent Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval of Azithromycin for injection

Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of azithromycin for injection, a semi-synthetic, macrolide antibiotic that is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. Sagent will offer azithromycin in a 500 mg vial for intravenous use.

26 Mar 2009

Scientists develop new agents to fight superbugs

Experts from Queen's University Belfast have developed new agents to fight MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections that are resistant to antibiotics.

24 Mar 2009

Researchers identify genetic machinery responsible for synthesizing thiostrepton

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified the genetic machinery responsible for synthesizing thiostrepton, a powerful antibiotic produced by certain bacteria.

23 Mar 2009