http://phys.org/biology-news/microbiology/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on microbiology and cell biology. Research published in Open Biology today identifies, for the first time, nearly all the genes required for reproduction of a cell in a living organism. http://phys.org/news288512169.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Thu, 23 May 2013 07:16:42 EST news288512169 Radically different viruses share genes and are likely to share ancestry, according to research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Virology Journal this week. The comprehensive phylogenomic analysis compares giant viruses that infect amoeba with tiny viruses known as virophages and to several groups of transposable elements. The complex network of evolutionary relationships the authors describe suggests that viruses evolved from non-viral mobile genetic elements and vice versa, on more than one occasion. http://phys.org/news288468829.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 19:14:18 EST news288468829 Endangered brush-tail rock wallabies raised in captive breeding programs carry antibiotic resistance genes in their gut bacteria and may be able to transmit these genes into wild populations, according to research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Michelle Power and colleagues from Macquarie University in New South Wales, Australia. http://phys.org/news288461219.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 17:07:13 EST news288461219 Scientists from the University of Southampton have developed a device which records the brain activity of worms to help test the effects of drugs. http://phys.org/news288460983.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 17:03:17 EST news288460983 New research from North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado shows that households with dogs are home to more types of bacteria – including bacteria that are rarely found in households that do not have dogs. The finding is part of a larger study to improve our understanding of the microscopic life forms that live in our homes. http://phys.org/news288460671.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 17:00:02 EST news288460671 Malaria-carrying mosquitos appear to be manipulated by the parasites they carry, but this manipulation may simply be part of the mosquitos' immune response, according to Penn State entomologists. http://phys.org/news288455449.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 15:31:31 EST news288455449 Many genes are transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that provide instructions for protein synthesis. Other genes encode regulatory RNAs known as 'microRNAs', which can block protein translation by binding to specific sequences on target mRNAs. Now, researchers led by Prabha Sampath of the A*STAR Institute of Molecular Biology have identified a gene that uses an unusual 'see-saw' mechanism to regulate wound healing by switching between production of mRNA and microRNA. http://phys.org/news288425325.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 07:40:02 EST news288425325 Mapping all of the chemical, or epigenetic, changes to chromosomes that affect which genes are turned on or off—and thus determine the fate of genomically identical cells in the body—usually requires a large amount of starting cellular material. This technical limitation has impeded the analysis of gene regulation in many rare cell types and in small clinical biopsy samples. Now, a team of biologists led by A*STAR scientists has developed a protocol for characterizing these changes that requires up to 100 times fewer cells than previously needed. As a proof of principle, the researchers used the approach to chart which genes are activated or repressed in mouse reproductive cells that eventually give rise to eggs or sperm. http://phys.org/news288425279.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 07:30:01 EST news288425279 When studying any kind of population—people or cells—averaging is a useful, if flawed, form of measurement. According to the US Census Bureau, the average American household size in 2010 was 2.59. Of course, there are no homes with exactly 2.59 people. By inspecting each house individually, one would see some homes occupied by a single individual, and others by large families. These extremes get lost when values are averaged over a population. http://phys.org/news288426174.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 May 2013 07:23:04 EST news288426174 Environment is not the only factor in shaping regulatory patterns—and it might not even be the primary factor, according to a new Rice University study that looks at how cells' protein networks relate to a bacteria's genome. http://phys.org/news288375822.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 May 2013 17:23:51 EST news288375822 Researchers at University of Cincinnati have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources – lakes and rivers – at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon. They report their results today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. http://phys.org/news288374101.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:08 EST news288374101 How does the bacterium Shigella—the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease—detect that it's in a human host? Ohio University scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the environment is right for the bacterium to produce the factors it needs to survive within the body, according to a study published May 21 in the journal PLOS ONE. http://phys.org/news288373970.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:05 EST news288373970 When infections occur in the body, stem cells in the blood often jump into action by multiplying and differentiating into mature immune cells that can fight off illness. But repeated infections and inflammation can deplete these cell populations, potentially leading to the development of serious blood conditions such as cancer. Now, a team of researchers led by biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has found that, in mouse models, the molecule microRNA-146a (miR-146a) acts as a critical regulator and protector of blood-forming stem cells (called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs) during chronic inflammation, suggesting that a deficiency of miR-146a may be one important cause of blood cancers and bone marrow failure. http://phys.org/news288364621.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 May 2013 14:17:15 EST news288364621 A cocktail of non-pathogenic bacteria naturally occurring in the digestive tract of healthy humans can protect against a potentially lethal E. coli infection in animal models according to research presented today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. The research, conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, could have important implications for the prevention or even treatment of this disease. http://phys.org/news288270355.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:23 EST news288270355 (Phys.org) —From within an ancient German gravesite to laboratories under the harshest extremes of scientific scrutiny, traces of DNA from a deadly disease illuminate the cold pages of history with modern insight. http://phys.org/news288261881.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 May 2013 09:44:49 EST news288261881 In a paper published in Cell yesterday, scientists from the US and Thailand have, for the first time, successfully produced embryonic stem cells from human skin cells. http://phys.org/news288260300.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 May 2013 09:18:34 EST news288260300 A new study has found that bacteria responsible for chronic intestinal inflammation in cattle, which have also been implicated in Crohn's disease in humans, are widespread in the UK countryside. http://phys.org/news288253289.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 May 2013 08:10:02 EST news288253289 Monash University researchers are shedding light on the complex processes that underpin the creation and differentiation of stem cells, bringing closer the promise of 'miracle' therapies. http://phys.org/news288252860.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 May 2013 07:14:29 EST news288252860 Classical X-ray radiographs provide information about internal, absorptive structures of organisms such as bones. Alternatively, X-rays can also image soft tissues throughout early embryonic development of vertebrates. Related to this, a new X-ray method was presented recently in a Nature article published by a German-American-Russian research team led by KIT. For periods of about two hours, time-lapse sequences of cellular resolution were obtained of three dimensional reconstructions showing developing embryos of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). Instead of the absorption of X-rays, the method is based on their diffraction. http://phys.org/news287919575.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 May 2013 10:39:45 EST news287919575 Researchers from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have developed a highly sensitive lectin probe, rBC2LCN, for human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). rBC2LCN allows staining of live iPS cells just by adding the probe to an iPS cell culture medium. The researchers have also revealed that rBC2LCN binds to H-type 3 O-glycans on membrane proteins of iPS cells. http://phys.org/news287912148.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 May 2013 08:35:56 EST news287912148 MIT engineers have transformed bacterial cells into living calculators that can compute logarithms, divide, and take square roots, using three or fewer genetic parts. Inspired by how analog electronic circuits function, the researchers created synthetic computation circuits by combining existing genetic "parts," or engineered genes, in novel ways. http://phys.org/news287861661.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 May 2013 18:35:14 EST news287861661 Scientists will attempt to find out how malaria parasites manipulate their mosquito hosts after discovering that smell could be a major factor. http://phys.org/news287855932.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:05 EST news287855932 (Phys.org) —Albert Erives, associate professor in the University of Iowa Department of Biology, and his graduate student, Justin Crocker, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Farm Research Campus, have conducted a study that reveals important and useful insights into how and why developmental genes often take inputs from two independent "morphogen concentration gradients." http://phys.org/news287851181.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 May 2013 15:40:13 EST news287851181 Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. It is believed that stem cell therapies hold the promise of replacing cells damaged through injury or illness. Diseases or conditions that might be treated through stem cell therapy include Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, cardiac disease and spinal cord injuries. http://phys.org/news287824262.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:09 EST news287824262 Researchers from ETH Zurich have mapped the coordinates for all the proteins of the tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thanks to this "atlas", scientists are now able to easily find and accurately measure every protein of this bacterium that causes dangerous lung diseases. http://phys.org/news287824101.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:05 EST news287824101 (Norwich BioScience Institutes) Scientists at the Institute of Food Research have been mining the genome of C. botulinum to uncover new information about the toxin genes that produce the potent toxin behind botulism. http://phys.org/news287754797.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 May 2013 12:53:23 EST news287754797 Bacteria are life forms, which, like all other life forms, struggle for the best living conditions for themselves. Therefore they will try to avoid getting attacked by the human immune system, and therefore they have developed various ways to protect themselves from the human immune system. When safe from the immune system, they can focus on breeding and multiplying, and if they become numerous enough, the human body will experience their presence as an infection. Some bacteria are relatively harmless, while others are fatal. The bacteria avoid being attacked by the human immune system by forming a biofilm - a surface to protect them against the immune system. http://phys.org/news287753667.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 May 2013 12:34:35 EST news287753667 Water gives life. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden now show how the cells in our bodies are driven mainly by water power – a discovery that in the long run opens the way for a new strategy in cancer therapy. http://phys.org/news287744961.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 May 2013 10:09:28 EST news287744961 It is now easier to pinpoint exactly what molecules a phosphatase – a type of protein that's essential for cells to react to their environment – acts upon in human cells, thanks to the free online database DEPOD, created by EMBL scientists. Published today in Science Signaling, the overview of interactions could even help explain unforeseen side-effects of drugs. http://phys.org/news287740812.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 May 2013 09:05:12 EST news287740812 Biologists at Heidelberg University have discovered new approaches for the treatment of cancer. They investigated how a special signalling molecule, the epidermal growth factor (EGF), stimulates the separation of chromosomes in the cell. The researchers were able to demonstrate that EGF accelerates the division of the cell nucleus, i.e. mitosis, as well as boosts precision in chromosome segregation. "Because the regulation of the EGF pathway is radically altered in many types of cancers, the results of our research point to new approaches in cancer therapy", explains Prof. Dr. Elmar Schiebel from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH). Together with scientists from the University of Leicester, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the German Cancer Research Center, Prof. Schiebel and his team have published their findings in the journal Developmental Cell. http://phys.org/news287740271.html Biology - Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 May 2013 08:51:58 EST news287740271