Bacteria are a major domain of prokaryotic microorganisms characterized by the absence of a membrane-bound nucleus, typically possessing a single circular chromosome, 70S ribosomes, and peptidoglycan-containing cell walls. They exhibit diverse morphologies (e.g., cocci, bacilli, spirilla) and metabolic strategies, including aerobic, anaerobic, phototrophic, chemolithotrophic, and heterotrophic lifestyles. Bacteria reproduce primarily by binary fission and undergo extensive horizontal gene transfer via transformation, transduction, and conjugation, driving rapid adaptation. They occupy virtually all ecological niches, form complex communities such as biofilms, and play central roles in biogeochemical cycles, host-associated microbiomes, biotechnology, and pathogenesis research.
Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have—in collaboration with colleagues from Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich—analyzed the complex biochemical processes that bacteria use to insert proteins ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 4, 2026
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A small change in acidity can transform the world around us. A squeeze of lemon changes the taste of food. Vinegar preserves vegetables. Stomach acid helps break down a meal. These familiar effects come from protons—tiny ...
By 2050, scientists estimate that antibiotic-resistant infections will be associated with more than 8 million deaths around the world every year.
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 3, 2026
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21
Researchers at the University of Münster and Ruhr University Bochum have demonstrated for the first time in real time that the body's own defense cells use catecholamines—neurotransmitters such as dopamine and adrenaline—to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 3, 2026
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29
In the study of bacteria, a longstanding dogma has held that two molecular machines—RNA polymerase, which leads the way in transcribing DNA into RNA, and ribosomes, which bring up the rear translating RNA into proteins—worked ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 2, 2026
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9
Embedded in the boundary between the inside and outside of each cell are membrane proteins. They act as first responders by sensing signals, regulating which molecules enter and leave the cell, and enabling cells to quickly ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 2, 2026
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10
Escherichia coli (E. coli) are mostly harmless bacteria that live in the intestines of animals and humans. They are the most well-studied bacteria and, often, when scientists discover something about E. coli, they extrapolate ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 2, 2026
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6
Decades-old hospital samples have helped University of East Anglia (UEA) researchers uncover how a deadly antibiotic-resistant "superbug" quietly tightened its grip across the globe. It lurked in hospital corridors for decades, ...
Evolution
Jul 1, 2026
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198
Hopefully, we're about to travel back to the moon relatively soon. And while the original "giant leap for mankind" was taken by a human, Neil Armstrong brought a plethora of other forms of life along with him. Humans themselves ...
Astrobiology
Jun 30, 2026
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26
Every year, bacteria kill more than a million people worldwide through infections that no longer respond to antibiotics. In many cases, why those bacteria are so hard to stop comes down to their uniquely powerful structure.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 30, 2026
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