News tagged with host organisms

Amoeba offers key clue to photosynthetic evolution

(PhysOrg.com) -- The major difference between plant and animal cells is the photosynthetic process, which converts light energy into chemical energy. When light isn't available, energy is generated by breaking ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | 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

Mega beats Mimi for world's biggest virus

A virus found in the sea off Chile is the biggest in the world, harbouring more than 1,000 genes, surprised scientists reported on Monday.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 10, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (9) | comments 1

Accelerated lab evolution of biomolecules could yield new generation of medicines

Scientists at Harvard University have harnessed the prowess of fast-replicating bacterial viruses, also known as phages, to accelerate the evolution of biomolecules in the laboratory. The work, reported this week in the journal ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 10, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Bioelectrical signals turn stem cells' progeny cancerous

Biologists at Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences have discovered that a change in membrane voltage in newly identified "instructor cells" can cause stem cells' descendants to trigger melanoma-like ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Oct 19, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Biologists learn structure, mechanism of powerful 'molecular motor' in virus

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered the atomic structure of a powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly, an essential step in their ability ...

Biology /

created Dec 24, 2008 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Parasites or not? Transposable elements in fruit flies

The problem of parasitism occurs at all levels right down to the DNA scale. Genomes may contain up to 80 percent "foreign" DNA but details of the mechanisms by which this enters the host genome and how hosts attempt to combat ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

B chromosomes affect sex determination in cichlid fishes

B chromosomes have a functional effect on sex determination in a species of cichlid fishes from Lake Victoria, according to a study by Japanese researchers to be published in open-access journal PLoS Genetics on August 18th, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Aug 18, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Salmonella utilize multiple modes of infection

Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany have discovered a new, hitherto unknown mechanism of Salmonella invasion into gut cells: In this entry mode, the bacteria exploit the mu ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 21, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The world is not flat: Exploring cells and tissues in three dimensions

The cells and tissues in our bodies grow, develop and interact in a highly complex, three-dimensional world. Likewise, the various microbial pathogens that invade our bodies and cause infectious disease interact ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 19, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Marine viruses changing Earth's system: study

All but overlooked until the past decade, marine viruses far outnumber any other biological entity on the planet. Scientists are only beginning to discover the invisible particles that are the cogs of Earth's ...

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 28, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The White Stuff: Marine Lab Team Seeks to Understand Coral Bleaching

(PhysOrg.com) -- With technology similar to that used by physicians to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, researchers from six institutions -- including the National Institute of Standards and ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Major breakthrough could lead to new antibiotics for human use

(PhysOrg.com) -- The means to fully understand and exploit a type of fungus that could form the basis of a new class of antibiotics has been developed by researchers at the University of Bristol. With certain ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Computers aid in cracking deception in plants

If the growing presence of computer 'geeks' on television crime shows is any indicator, computers are increasingly becoming essential tools for detecting and combating skullduggery. However, television detectives ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 25, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Tufted bacteria cause infection in premature babies

Bacteria that normally reside on the skin of healthy people can cause serious infections in premature babies. A group of researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now found an explanation for ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Apr 29, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0