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.
Phylo-Plex, a new computational method, has been developed by Wellcome Sanger Institute scientists and their collaborators to allow cost-effective and scalable DNA sequencing of pathogens in laboratories with limited resources. ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 9, 2026
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Microbiologists from Stellenbosch University in South Africa have discovered a previously unknown bacterial genus within the phylum Acidobacteriota. It is the first genus from this phylum to be described from Southern Africa.
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 8, 2026
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The distribution of income and growing inequality are central themes in public debate. Far less attention has been paid to how resources are distributed in ecological communities, in the so-called state of nature, without ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 8, 2026
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Tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is the world's deadliest single-agent infection, responsible for 1.23 million deaths in 2024, according to the World Health Organization. The bacterium's ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 6, 2026
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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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60
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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26
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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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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10
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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