Tag Archives: bacteria
Microbial forensics: the science behind the Amerithrax investigation
Nearly a decade after the postal anthrax attacks in the USA that killed 5 individuals and infected more than 20 people, scientists have revealed the measures used to trace the Bacillus anthracis strain used in the bioterror attack in a … Continue reading
Filed under Genome sequence, Microbiology
Spreading Salmonella—hyper-replicating bacteria act as a reservoir for dissemination
New research reveals how Salmonella enterica spread in the gut and gallbladder—a subpopulation of Salmonella primed for invasion rapidly replicate in the host cell cytosol such that bacteria-laden cells are extruded out of the epithelial-cell layer releasing invasive Salmonella into … Continue reading
Filed under Infectious Disease, Microbiology, Uncategorized
Walking with bacteria
They swim, they swarm, they twitch and glide…they even ride on comet tails, and now it seems that bacteria can ‘walk’ as Maxsim Gibiansky and colleagues demonstrate in their short but sweet research published in Science. Gibiansky et al. studied … Continue reading
Filed under Microbiology
Altruistic bacterial charity workers help protect their vulnerable stressed out kin
US scientists have found that a small minority of highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria will produce and share a molecule, indole, that can activate survival mechanisms in less-resistant cells to enable the whole bacterial population to survive stressful environments despite the fact … Continue reading
Filed under Microbiology
M cells, gatekeepers or gateway to the gut
Glycoprotein 2 is the M cell receptor for type I pili on bacteria and is important for the immune response to these bacteria, according to research by Hase and colleagues published last week in the journal Nature. The mucosal immune … Continue reading
Filed under Immunology, Microbiology
There’s gold in them there bacteria
Scientists have found that the bacterium, Cupriavidus metallidurans, can transform toxic gold compounds to metallic gold, according to research by Reith and colleagues published online on the 7th October in the journal PNAS. Bacteria are naturally found on gold particles … Continue reading
Filed under Biology, Science, Uncategorized
Researchers make first steps towards making a vaccine for urinary tract infections
Fed up of stocking up on cranberry juice to stave off painful peeing….well researchers from the University of Michigan have made an important step towards making a vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs), if the immunity seen in mice … Continue reading
Filed under Infectious Disease, Microbiology, Vaccine
Psycho doesn’t lurk in your shower…….bacteria do
Our daily shower doesn’t just contain water; we can also get a face full of bacteria too. Shower heads can expose people to microbes, including potentially harmful pathogens according to research published this week by Pace (from the University of … Continue reading
Filed under Microbiology
