News tagged with fungus cells

New study finds titan cells protect Cryptococcus

Giant cells called "titan cells" protect the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection, according to two University of Minnesota researchers. Kirsten Nielsen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of microb ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 28, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Research team explores how microbial diversity defends against disease

Amphibians are among the most threatened creatures on earth, with some 40 percent of amphibian species threatened or endangered. One of their primary threats is a rapidly spreading disease that attacks the ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

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

Chromosome centromeres are inherited epigenetically

Centromeres are specialised regions of the genome, which can be identified under the microscope as the primary constriction in X-shaped chromosomes. The cell skeleton, which distributes the chromosomes to ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A hot species for cool structures: Complex proteins in 3-D thanks to simple heat-loving fungus

A fungus that lives at extremely high temperatures could help understand structures within our own cells. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Heidelberg University, both in Heidelberg, Germany, ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jul 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers discover a new switch in resistance to plant diseases

Powdery mildew is a tricky pathogen: The fungus can manipulate barley in a way that it is not only granted entry into the plant, but also gets the plant's cells to supply it with nutrients. A team of researchers at Technische ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 12, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Stopping malignancy in its tracks

An unusual chemical compound isolated from a mud-dwelling fungus found in a soil sample collected in Daejeon, South Korea, could lead to a new family of antitumor drugs. Discovered by teams led by Jong Seog ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jul 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Size matters -- in virulent fungal spores -- and suggests ways to stop a killer

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have found that larger fungal spores can be more lethal. Their findings about two different spore sizes of the fungus Mucor circinelloides, a pathogen that kills ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jun 16, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genome sequence could reveal 'Achilles' heels' of important wheat disease

Research published in PLoS Genetics today provides insights into how an important fungal disease is able to evade wheat's defences. The researchers hope that the study, which reveals the fungus' complete genome sequence, will e ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jun 09, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Same fungus, different strains

Fungi play key roles in nature and are valued for their great importance in industry. Consider citric acid, a key additive in several foods and pharmaceuticals produced on a large-scale basis for decades with ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 13, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Zombie ants have fungus on the brain

Tropical carpenter ants (Camponotus leonardi) live high up in the rainforest canopy. When infected by a parasitic fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) the behaviour of the ants is dramatically changed. They ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Tailoring fungi-based biofuels to meet the needs of current, advanced combustion engines

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engine experts and biofuels researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are working on a project that aims to modify an endophytic fungus so that it will produce fuel-type hydrocarbons for ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jan 19, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Invisibility cloak needed for cooperation? Unusual lipopolysaccharide enables symbiosis between bacterium, fungus

(PhysOrg.com) -- We and all other organisms must constantly grapple with bacteria. Whether for a necessary symbiosis or an infection, carbohydrate structures on cell surfaces play an important role in the ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 07, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Smart fungus disarms plant, animal and human immunity

Fungal and bacterial pathogens are well capable of infecting plants, animals and humans despite their immune systems. Fungi penetrate leafs, stalks and roots, or skin, intestines and lungs, to infect their ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 20, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Breast cancer drug shows promise against serious infections

An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as infants born prematurely and patients with cancer. ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jul 20, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1