Antibiosis is a biological process in which one organism produces specific metabolites that adversely affect the survival, growth, reproduction, or physiology of another organism, typically of a different species. It commonly involves secretion of antibiotics, toxins, or other secondary metabolites into the surrounding environment, leading to inhibitory or lethal effects on competitors, pathogens, or symbionts. Antibiosis plays a critical role in microbial ecology, plant–microbe and microbe–microbe interactions, and biological control of pests and diseases, and is mechanistically distinct from resource competition or predation because its primary mode of action is chemically mediated interference rather than direct consumption or simple nutrient depletion.
Has a crucial component to the development of human medicine been hiding under our feet? Auburn University Assistant Professor of Entomology Clint Penick and a team of graduate students may have found that ants are far ahead ...
Evolution
Dec 18, 2025
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325
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a spray-on polymer coating that could help plants resist harmful bacterial infections and survive drought. The advance, published in ACS Materials Letters, ...
Biotechnology
Dec 18, 2025
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21
UTIs are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide, but inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics is driving antimicrobial resistance. Once dependable, antibiotics now take longer to work or fail entirely, with ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 18, 2025
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27
Experts are increasingly turning to machine learning to predict antibiotic resistance in pathogens. With its help, resistance mechanisms can be identified based on a pathogen's genetics. However, the results should be viewed ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 17, 2025
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43
Tuberculosis is both curable and preventable, yet each year, it still kills more people than any other infectious disease. One reason is that current treatments hinge on rifampicin, an antibiotic that blocks bacterial transcription ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 15, 2025
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16
Countless bacterial species share cramped environments where competition for space and resources is fierce. Some rely on a molecular speargun to outcompete their opponents. One of them is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is widespread ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 8, 2025
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26
The toxic bug E. coli uses a secret weapon to survive in our gut even when it is being treated with antibiotics, scientists have revealed. The new research has unmasked a super-pump inside the bacteria, and its related Shigella ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 3, 2025
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Researchers in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School have opened a new window into understanding the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 20, 2025
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23
As the threat of antibiotic resistance grows, a Swansea University academic has led the development of a novel technology capable of killing some of the most dangerous bacteria known to medicine—with over 99.9% effectiveness ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 19, 2025
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153
When bumble bees fight invasive Argentine ants for food, bees may win an individual skirmish but end up with less to feed the hive.
Plants & Animals
Nov 13, 2025
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