Microbiology
Researchers writing in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy have found a chemical compound that, when used in conjunction with conventional antibiotics, effectively destroys biofilms produced by antibiotic-resistant strains of the Staphylococcus strain MRSA and Acinetobacter. The compound also re-sentsitizes those bacteria to antibiotics.
Infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA are especially difficult to get rid of because the bacteria can attach to surfaces and then create biofilms, sticky layers of cells that act as a shield and prevent antibiotics from destroying the…
Coastal microbes may offer a smart solution for plastic contamination in the world's oceans, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting.
The research shows that the combination of marine microbes that can grow on plastic waste varies significantly from microbial groups that colonize surfaces in the wider environment. This raises the possibility that the plastic-associated marine microbes have different activities that could contribute to the breakdown of these plastics or the toxic chemicals associated with them.
While microbes are the most…
Genetic engineering may one day turn the Anopheles mosquito, the transmitter of malaria, into a natural 'flying vaccinator' for the disease, a new study in Insect Molecular Biology suggests.
Scientists have successfully generated a transgenic mosquito expressing the Leishmania vaccine within its saliva. Bites from the insect succeeded in raising antibodies, indicating successful immunization with the vaccine through blood feeding.
The research, led by Associate Professor Shigeto Yoshida from the Jichi Medical University in Japan, targets the saliva gland of the mosquitoes, the main vectors…
Writing in Nature Biotechnology, an international team of scientists say they have transferred broad spectrum resistance against some important plant diseases across different plant families.
The findings could provide a new biotechnological solution to engineering disease resistance and may help improve food security as a result.
Breeding programs for resistance generally rely on single resistance genes that recognize molecules specific to particular strain of pathogens. Hence this kind of resistance rarely confers broad-spectrum resistance and is often rapidly overcome by the…
A new study in Environmental Science and Technology reports that soil microbes have become progressively more resistant to antibiotics over the last 60 years, despite more stringent rules on the use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture.
The study involved an analysis of 18 different antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to four different classes of antibiotics in soil samples collected in the Netherlands from 1940 to 2008.
Using data from sites around the Netherlands, the scientists found increasing levels in 78 percent of the ARG tested, clearly indicating increased potential for…
Much like the Chicago Bears' defensive lineman William "The Fridge" Perry cleaned out the New England Patriots in Superbowl XX, you really should clean your fridge out more often.
In fact, most Americans clean their fridges only once or twice a year, according to the Wall Street Journal. That's registering really high on the vomit-encrusted nastiness scale.1 People don't generally clean fridges until something triggers them to act, such as a spill or a pungent odor. Or, if you're a conscientious renter, when you move into and out of apartments.2
William "The Fridge" Perry, circa 1986
Besides…
The mechanism by which the parasite Plasmodium intensively replicates itself in human blood to spread malaria has eluded scientists despite decades of rigorous research. But now biologists writing in the journal Genome Research say they have discovered how the deadly parasite regulates its infectious cycle.
In the cells of eukaryotes, such as the unicellular Plasmodium and humans, DNA, which can be as long as two meters, is closely packed to fit into the cell's tiny nucleus. Huge complex proteins called nucleosomes facilitate this DNA compaction so that eventually the DNA is coiled in an…
Scientists searching for alternatives to synthetic pesticides say volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by the fungus Muscodor albus may offer a biologically based way to rid certain crops of destructive pests. Reseachers from the USDA's Agriculture Research Service laboratories put the idea to the test in three different studies by pitting Muscodor against potato tuber moths, apple codling moths and Tilletia fungi that cause bunt diseases in wheat.
In field trials conducted since 2007, a team of plant pathologist found that treating wheat seed or the soil with a formulation of…
The protein ToxT controls the virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera. And buried within ToxT is a fatty acid that appears to inhibit the protein, preventing V. cholerae from causing cholera. The findings appeared recently in PNAS and the authors say the research may enable the development of a new treatment for the potentially fatal illness.
The researchers used X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of ToxT. The process involves taking DNA from V. cholerae and using non-pathogenic E. coli bacteria to produce large amounts of the target protein, in…
In some places around the world, reptiles are becoming a delicacy, but researchers writing in the International Journal of Food Microbiology say there are dangerous side effects that come with eating the animals. Experts warn that eating crocodiles, turtles, lizards or snakes may result in exposure to dangerous parasites, bacteria, viruses, and to a lesser extent, contamination from heavy metals and residues of veterinary drugs. According to the study, people can also catch certain diseases (trichinosis, pentastomiasis, gnathostomiasis and sparganosis) by eating reptile meat.
"The…