A new study provides the first insights into how thylakoid membranes—the internal compartments where oxygen-producing photosynthesis takes place—emerged during evolution. By comparing the genomes of cyanobacteria with and ...
A publication led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, shows that microscopic partnerships between ciliates and bacteria play a role in the nitrogen cycle of lakes. The ...
Genes aren't just transferred from parents to their offspring. Nature has found other ways to pass on genetic information, even between different species. And a new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National ...
A new study led by Marco Fumasoni, principal investigator at Fundação GIMM, shows that evolution can substantially reduce cell size without significantly compromising cells' ability to grow. The work, carried out in yeast ...
Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered 45 new toxins produced by Salmonella bacteria, some of which are associated with foodborne infections. The study was conducted at the Center for Research ...
For decades, biologists assumed a cell's energy simply diffused to wherever it was needed. It turns out the most important destination of all has a private delivery line.
All cells in animals, plants, fungi, and protists share a fundamental characteristic: they are eukaryotic cells—complex cells with specialized internal compartments. The cells that make up our bodies are no exception.
Hiroshima University researchers say a newly proposed three-step "detour" pathway for making dolichol, a molecule cells need to properly process proteins, may be more universal than scientists realized. Experiments in yeast ...
Decomposers are crucial for keeping Earth habitable, breaking down dead biomass and returning key nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, to the ecosystem. Most decomposers, including fungi, survive through osmotrophy—a ...
Living in the Dead Sea would be a very unpleasant experience for most creatures. With salt concentration above 30% and temperatures ranging from 10–50°C, it takes unique environmental adaptations to survive in such harsh ...
