News tagged with bacterial dna

Pinpointing how antibiotics work

Penicillin and other antibiotics have revolutionized medicine, turning once-deadly diseases into easily treatable ailments. However, while antibiotics have been in use for more than 70 years, the exact mechanism ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 20, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study reveals how protein machinery binds and wraps DNA to start replication

(PhysOrg.com) -- Before any cell - healthy or cancerous - can divide, it has to replicate its DNA. So scientists who want to know how normal cells work - and perhaps how to stop abnormal ones - are keen to ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Bacterial plasmids -- the freeloading and the heavy-lifters -- balance the high price of disease

Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- Ind ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Dealing with stress: New research highlights the survival skills of disease-causing E. coli

Escherichia coli bacteria thrive in the lower intestine of humans and other animals, including birds. Most are vital constituents of the healthy gut flora, but certain forms of E. coli cause a range of di ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Antibiotics in swine feed encourage gene exchange

A study to be published in the online journal mBio on November 29 shows that adding antibiotics to swine feed causes microorganisms in the guts of these animals to start sharing genes that could spread antibiotic resistance.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 28, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Triple threat: One bacterium, three plasmids

Researchers from Australia found something completely new while conducting a genetic study of the pathogenesis of an enteric disease in birds. They report what is believed to be the first bacterial strain to carry three closely ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 14, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers uncover genetic link to cattle diseases

The origin of three costly cattle diseases is genetically linked, according to findings from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Research finds novel method for increasing antibiotic yields

A novel way of increasing the amounts of antibiotics produced by bacteria has been discovered that could markedly improve the yields of these important compounds in commercial production. It could also be valuable in helping ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Sep 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Resistance to antibiotics is ancient: study

Scientists were surprised at how fast bacteria developed resistance to the miracle antibiotic drugs when they were developed less than a century ago. Now scientists at McMaster University have found that resistance has been ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 31, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New method reveals parts of bacterium genome essential to life

A team at the Stanford University School of Medicine has cataloged, down to the letter, exactly what parts of the genetic code are essential for survival in one bacterial species, Caulobacter crescentus.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

It's not who you are, but what you do

(PhysOrg.com) -- When you're a tiny creature in a vast ocean it pays to hang out with the right crowd, regardless of whether they are related to you or not, a new study into the amazingly diverse world of ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

When viruses infect bacteria

(PhysOrg.com) -- Viruses are the most abundant parasites on Earth. Well known viruses, such as the flu virus, attack human hosts, while viruses such as the tobacco mosaic virus infect plant hosts.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jun 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Antibiotic resistance spreads rapidly between bacteria

The part of bacterial DNA that often carries antibiotic resistance is a master at moving between different types of bacteria and adapting to widely differing bacterial species, shows a study made by a research ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 11, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Gonorrhea acquires a piece of human DNA

If a human cell and a bacterial cell met at a speed-dating event, they would never be expected to exchange phone numbers, much less genetic material. In more scientific terms, a direct transfer of DNA has never been recorded ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Staying 1 strep ahead: Research shows how bacteria keep ahead of vaccines and antibiotics

New research provides the first detailed genetic picture of an evolutionary war between Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria and the vaccines and antibiotics used against it over recent decades. Large-scale genome sequencing ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 27, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast