https://phys.org/biology-news/microbiology/ en-us The latest science news on microbiology and cell biology. How do microorganisms orient themselves to find the optimal habitat? Scientists have thoroughly investigated so-called magnetotactic bacteria, which use the Earth's magnetic field as a biological compass. Some eukaryotic single-celled organisms—that is, more complex organisms like ciliates, which, unlike bacteria, have a cell nucleus—also possess this capability. But how they acquire it has largely remained a puzzle. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-unusual-bestows-magnetic-celled.html Evolution Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:00:01 EDT news703784221 Protein aggregates are associated with the development of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. These are found more often in certain areas of cells known as membraneless organelles. Do these organelles promote this protein clumping, or do they protect the cell by temporarily absorbing the aggregates? Professor Simon Ebbinghaus and Mailin Becker from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, set out to answer this question with their new, self-developed method, "confocal Fast Relaxation Imaging," or cFReI. They report their findings in the journal PRX Life. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cell-imaging-method-protein-organelles.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:00:03 EDT news703782421 Why do some brains survive long after death when most other soft tissue decays? That's the question a research team led by Alexandra Morton-Hayward at the University of Oxford set out to answer. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-human-brains-outlast-soft-tissues.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703772218 Microbial communities are considered particularly diverse—in soil, water and the human body. A common assumption in ecology is that the greater the diversity of available nutrients, the more species can coexist. A research team at the University of Tübingen has now shown that the opposite can be true. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-greater-nutrient-variety-counterintuitively-microbial.html Ecology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:00:09 EDT news703772102 New research has uncovered the complex biological history preserved within DNA traces found on the Shroud of Turin, offering fresh insights into one of the world's most studied and debated historical artifacts. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shroud-turin-dna-biological-history.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:06 EDT news703770901 Honeybees do not like cold weather. When temperatures dip, they can become sluggish and unable to fly. But no matter the conditions in the outside world, they try to keep their hives close to a comfortable 34°C–36°C (93°F–97°F). However, extreme weather, both hot and cold, can overwhelm this internal temperature control and ultimately cut their lives short. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bees-probiotic-diet-extreme-temperatures.html Ecology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:00:06 EDT news703758461 A parasite carried by billions of people worldwide often causes harmful infections during pregnancy and in immunocompromised individuals and is a leading infectious cause of blindness in South America. Once it enters the body, it can rapidly multiply, spreading from one cell to the next. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-widespread-parasite-earth-genome.html Plants & Animals Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news703756801 Researchers at EMBL Hamburg and collaborators at the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) have mapped how the influenza A virus rewires infected human cells in unprecedented detail. To do this, the researchers used a customized experimental workflow to directly observe how proteins interact inside intact infected cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-flu-virus-rewires-human.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 05:00:04 EDT news703500120 Cells are like metropolises, home to millions of molecular residents. If one were to stand atop a high-rise, trying to identify most of its inhabitants would seem an impossible task. Even with the sophisticated imaging tools currently available to scientists, it is challenging to zoom in on specific molecules and view them with a high degree of detail. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-proteins-scientists-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:20:06 EDT news703498960 As sea levels rise due to climate change, encroaching seawater will likely make freshwater environments saltier. In a new study, MIT researchers have shown how that increase in salinity might affect microbial ecosystems found in environments such as rivers and estuaries. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-influx-salt-affect-microbial-ecosystems.html Ecology Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:12 EDT news703496766 Climate change is altering the spread of waterborne diseases around the world, according to a comprehensive review published today in Nature Reviews Microbiology. The publication is the most up-to-date, comprehensive analysis examining how climate change influences waterborne diseases. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-climate-reshapes-waterborne-disease-pathogens.html Ecology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:00:05 EDT news703427371 Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and Kiel University (CAU) have examined immune system function in an early-branching animal—a sea anemone. They discovered that the immune systems of these animals can selectively distinguish between different microorganisms, protecting beneficial bacteria from harmful bacteria—an ability that has been attributed only to vertebrates to date. So-called "nematosomes" play an important role in this process. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-invertebrates-distinguish-good-bad-bacteria.html Ecology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:20:11 EDT news703417988 A new study published in Nature Communications reveals a hidden source of antibiotic resistance, providing an early warning sign for researchers and public health officials. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-antibiotic-resistant-gene-australian-soil.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:00:05 EDT news703407508 Bacteria can defend themselves against antibiotics with the help of an enzyme released by dying cells, according to a study by a team from the Institute for Biological Physics at the University of Cologne and Wageningen University & Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This discovery helps scientists understand bacterial survival mechanisms and improve the effectiveness of antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bacteria-sacrifice-antibiotics-ineffective.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:30:01 EDT news703417847 Another last-resort antibiotic has fallen victim to the rapid evolution of drug-resistant superbugs. The powerful antibiotic combination ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA), widely used to treat severe hospital-acquired infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa—particularly in critically ill and immunocompromised patients—can no longer eliminate some of these infections. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-rare-mutations-dangerous-hospital-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:40:10 EDT news703402921 Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that tiny photosynthetic bacteria band together into protective "herds" when attacked by predators—a survival strategy that could also influence how carbon is stored in the world's waters. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bacteria-herds-survive-predators-fresh.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:20:04 EDT news703340944 The nucleolus is a liquid-like cellular organelle where protein factories called ribosomes are assembled. Researchers knew of three distinct compartments within the nucleolus, but how these compartments function to drive ribosome assembly was unclear. A study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, published today in Molecular Cell, reveals that smaller subcompartments containing ribosome building blocks and assembly proteins spontaneously form to finish the final steps of ribosome assembly. This reveals unprecedented levels of organization behind the process and may offer insight into diseases associated with increased ribosome production, such as cancer. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-nucleolus-compartments-ribosome.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news703340059 An international team of researchers developed a new way to uncover hidden differences in how viruses infect and destroy individual microbial cells—solving a biological puzzle that has persisted for more than 80 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-hidden-individuality-viral-infections.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:36 EDT news703229408 LMU researchers demonstrate that oxygenic photosynthesis can occur with only a single photosystem, overturning a fundamental principle of biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-oxygenic-photosynthesis-photosystem-overturning-year.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:20:03 EDT news703328996 Cells are crowded, dynamic places where thousands of molecules interact in tight quarters. Until now, scientists lacked a reliable way to see many of these molecular interactions as they happen. Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have now developed a new imaging method that allows scientists to see previously hidden enzyme activities in small regions across the whole cell. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open new possibilities for understanding how cells process information. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cell-imaging-method.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:40:05 EDT news703255069 Faster and more effective ways to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most life-threatening pathogens, could be possible thanks to a first-of-its-kind 3D computer model developed by the University of Surrey. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-kind-tackles-antibiotic-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:40:07 EDT news703246076 Tissue engineers are finding ways to grow living organs and tissues from cells, with the aim of replacing diseased and damaged counterparts in the body. Scientists have successfully grown artificial muscles, livers, kidneys, skin and other tissues. But there's been no reliable way to engineer precisely patterned networks of blood vessels, some of which can be finer than a human hair. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-precise-artificial-blood-vessels.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:30:02 EDT news703241819 A new study tracking soil microbial communities across six years of experimental drought in a tallgrass prairie finds that prolonged water stress diminishes biodiversity, pushing communities toward less predictable, harder-to-reverse configurations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-years-drought-reshape-soil-microbiomes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news703233013 Researchers have discovered that a group of viruses known to infect an agriculturally important plant pathogen has remained genetically stable for an astonishing four decades. The discovery of a disease-fighting virus that doesn't mutate at a rapid rate points the way toward new tools for fighting crop disease—and highlights how little is known about viruses that infect bacteria in agricultural settings. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-family-tree-viruses-grew-paves.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:40:03 EDT news703167019 Inside the cell nucleus, genes must be turned on and off with precision to regulate biological processes. The first models of gene regulation were developed in the 1960s, yet modern science continues to uncover new layers of control. A new study involving researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Institut Pasteur and Princeton University, published in PNAS, suggests that genes obey an optimal switching principle—random at any given moment, yet precise on average. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-random-flickering-genes-energy-precision.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:00:10 EDT news703149643 Cats may be cute and adorable, but stray and feral cats can sometimes pose a risk to human health. Veterinary researchers have discovered that more than 50% of free-roaming cats in New York City carry parasites that could potentially be transmitted to humans. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-health-york-city-free.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:30:01 EDT news702895994 Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), together with Wismut GmbH and scientists from the University of Granada in Spain, have demonstrated for the first time that bacteria can convert uranium dissolved in water into a stable chemical compound when they have access to glycerol as a food source. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bacteria-dissolved-uranium-stable-compound.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:20:10 EDT news702888774 A new Northwestern Medicine study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has explored the impacts of aging on essential cellular processes, findings that could shape the development of future anti-aging therapeutic strategies. Ali Shilatifard, Ph.D., the chair and Robert Francis Furchgott Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, was the senior author of the study. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-aging-rewires-rna-production-favoring.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:30:01 EDT news702822032 In a new study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have resolved a longstanding mystery by showing how epithelial tissues exhibit slow-moving, glass-like behavior despite their fast-paced biological activity. Their study is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-unraveling-glass-nature-epithelial-tissues.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:00:06 EDT news702808893 A Cornell-led study is challenging a decades-old explanation for how chromosomes exchange genetic material within the biological process that forms eggs and sperm in mammals. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-genetic-crossovers-defy-chromosome-length.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:00:04 EDT news702807040