News tagged with soil bacterium

Can bacteria make you smarter?

Exposure to specific bacteria in the environment, already believed to have antidepressant qualities, could increase learning behavior according to research presented today at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 24, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (29) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Hong Kong researchers store data in bacteria

The US' national archives occupy more than 500 miles (800 kilometres) of shelving; France's archives stretch for more than 100 miles of shelves, as do Britain's.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 09, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (19) | comments 15

Metal-mining bacteria are green chemists

Microbes could soon be used to convert metallic wastes into high-value catalysts for generating clean energy, say scientists writing in the September issue of Microbiology.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Sep 02, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers find new ways to understand bacteria's 'thinking'

It's not thinking in the way humans, dogs or even birds think, but new findings from researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, show that bacteria are more capable of complex decision-making than previously known.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 14, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Mining bacterial genomes reveals valuable 'hidden' drugs

A new tool to excavate bacterial genomes that potentially hide a rich array of pharmaceutical treasures has led to the discovery of a novel antibiotic. The study, reported in the August issue of Microbiology, could ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Aug 01, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First wood-digesting enzyme found in bacteria could boost biofuel production

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Warwick researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-led Integrated Biorefining Research and Technology (IBTI) Club have identified an enzyme in bacteria ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jun 09, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Microscope reveals how bacteria 'breathe' toxic metals

Researchers are studying some common soil bacteria that "inhale" toxic metals and "exhale" them in a non-toxic form.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Biofilm reorganization: Back to the theoretical drawing board

In a surprising new study, researchers using image-analysis methods similar to those employed in facial-recognition software have made a startling discovery that rules out the two main theories scientists ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mutant microbes test radiation resistance

Early Earth lacked an ozone layer to act as a shield against high-energy solar radiation, but microbes flourished by adapting to or finding other forms of protection from the higher ultraviolet radiation levels. ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 24, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Nitrogen-fixing bacterial symbiont promises trove of natural products

Soil-dwelling bacteria of the genus Frankia have the potential to produce a multitude of natural products, including antibiotics, herbicides, pigments, anticancer agents, and other useful products, according to Bradley S. ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jun 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Displacing petroleum-derived butanol with plants

As a chemical for industrial processes, butanol is used in everything from brake fluid, to paint thinners, to plastics. According to a University of Illinois researcher, butanol made from plant material could displace butanol ...

Biology /

created Jan 08, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Genes that make bacteria make up their minds

Bacteria are single cell organisms with no nervous system or brain. So how do individual bacterial cells living as part of a complex community called a biofilm "decide" between different physiological processes (such as movement ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 30, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

'Non-trivial' Crystallization Reveals Antibiotic's Molecular Mode of Action (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- With the "last resort" antibiotic Vancomycin now plagued by the first signs of bacterial resistance, a scientific collaboration centered at Duke University has identified how a candidate successor antibiotic ...

Chemistry / Polymers

created Aug 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

An sRNA controls a bacterium's social life

For the first time, biologists have directly shown how spontaneous mutation of a small RNA (sRNA) regulatory molecule can provide an evolutionary advantage. Reporting in this week's Science, Indiana University Bloomington scient ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 20, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Wageningen UR investigates plant disease suppression by Lysobacter

Lysobacter bacteria were frequently found in disease-suppressive soils. Wageningen UR has started a project to study the diversity of Lysobacter populations and the mode of action of this bacterium to suppress ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0