How does an intestinal microbe become a pathogen?
The bacterium Escherichia coli is found in the human intestine, and elsewhere. There it is harmless, but in certain conditions it can become a pathogen. It can cause bladder infections or even sepsis. A team of researchers led by RESIST professor Mar.....»»
African giant rats trained to sniff out illegal wildlife products
In the past, African giant pouched rats have learned to detect explosives and the tuberculosis-causing pathogen. Now, a team of researchers have trained these rats to pick up the scent of pangolin scales, elephant ivory, rhino horn, and African black.....»»
Scientists uncover key mechanism in pathogen defense, paving way for new antimicrobial strategies
Researchers have made a significant breakthrough in understanding how certain pathogens defend themselves against the host's immune system......»»
Bacterial pathogen must balance between colonizing airways and developing antibiotic tolerance, study reveals
Imagine trying to settle into a new home while constantly being attacked. That's what the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa faces when it infects the lungs, and it can't both spread and protect itself from antibiotics at the same time......»»
Study shows weak external electric fields may protect crops from infection
Research from Dr. Giovanni Sena's group in the Department of Life Sciences highlights an intriguing method to help protect plants from pathogen attacks using weak electric fields......»»
Chemical trick activates antibiotic directly at the pathogen
Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic that is usually only used for severe infections with resistant bacteria. This is due to its severe kidney-damaging side effects, which occur in about 30% of treated patients. A research team at the Helmholtz Cente.....»»
A unified theory for predicting pathogen competition: Exploring how emerging new strains replace previous ones
The COVID-19 pandemic showed that predicting the invasion of a novel pathogen into the human population and its evolutionary potential to generate new variants is crucial for preventing future outbreaks. New research conducted at Princeton University.....»»
Increasing plant diversity in agriculture can promote soil carbon sequestration
A study carried out at the University of Helsinki demonstrates that boosting plant diversity in agriculture can increase plant biomass and improve plant–microbe interactions, both of which promote the storage of carbon in the soil......»»
Study sheds light on limitations of zooplankton for inactivating pathogen contaminated water
Scientists at The University of Texas at El Paso and Stanford University were recently surprised to find that the natural community of zooplankton—tiny, aquatic animals known to graze on bacteria—present in freshwater and saltwater do not clean w.....»»
How a bacterial pathogen that causes dysentery manipulates molecular activity to assure its survival
Virginia Tech researchers have learned how bacteria manipulate molecules to infect the host organism. Daniel Capelluto and his research team have discovered the mechanism by which the bacterial pathogen Shigella flexneri, the causative agent of dysen.....»»
Plant pathogen battle: A tomato protein"s dual role in defense and susceptibility
Tomatoes, a staple crop worldwide, are increasingly threatened by biotic stressors such as viruses, fungi, and bacteria, with the effects worsening under climate change. These challenges lead to reduced yields and compromised nutritional quality, hig.....»»
Scientists identify 18 bacterial strains to treat antibiotic-resistant gut infections
Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections often occur in patients with chronic inflammatory intestinal conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, and in patients who have taken antibiotics for a long time. Gram-negative bacteria such as Enteroba.....»»
Microbe dietary preferences found to influence effectiveness of carbon sequestration in deep ocean
The movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surface of the ocean, where it is in active contact with the atmosphere, to the deep ocean, where it can be sequestered away for decades, centuries, or longer, depends on a number of seemingly small proce.....»»
Promoting horse welfare with an intestinal disease screening method
Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, are developing a promising method to support the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in horses. Awareness of the prevalence of IBD in both humans and animals has increased in recent de.....»»
Unlocking plant defense: Bacterial hijacking exposed
Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum poses a severe threat to agriculture worldwide, affecting numerous crops. The pathogen's arsenal of type III effectors (T3Es) enables it to manipulate host defense mechanisms, aiding infection. One majo.....»»
With AI, extreme microbe reveals how life"s building blocks adapt to high pressure
An assist from a Google Artificial Intelligence tool has helped scientists discover how the proteins of a heat-loving microbe respond to the crushing conditions of the planet's deepest ocean trenches, offering new insights into how these building blo.....»»
Researchers propose mechanistic framework to explain complex microbe-host symbioses
Virtually all multicellular organisms on Earth live in symbiotic associations with very large and complex microbial communities known as microbiomes. New research has just been published aimed at offering a complete understanding how those relationsh.....»»
Tuberculosis under the sea: A marine sponge microbe provides insights into the bacterium"s evolution
The surprising discovery of a bacterium in a marine sponge from the Great Barrier Reef with striking similarity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen responsible for tuberculosis (TB), could unlock and inform future TB research and treatment st.....»»
New knowledge about cell receptors paves the way for future drugs against intestinal tumors
A new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Communications provides valuable insights into the activation of receptors on the cell surface. The knowledge could lead to new targeted therapies and drugs against intestinal tumors, among o.....»»
Chloroplast manipulation: A new strategy in pathogen warfare uncovered
A recent study has unveiled the sophisticated methods pathogens use to weaken plant defenses. It shows how a pathogen's effector protein targets the chloroplast protein StFC-II, increasing its levels in chloroplasts and reducing the plant's ability t.....»»
Mapping the sex life of malaria parasites at single cell resolution reveals genetics underlying transmission
Malaria is caused by a eukaryotic microbe of the Plasmodium genus, and is responsible for more deaths than all other parasitic diseases combined. In order to transmit from the human host to the mosquito vector, the parasite has to differentiate into.....»»