Related topics: bacteria · antibiotics · protein · strains · tuberculosis

An oil-eating bacterium that can clean up pollution and spills

Oil spills and their impact on the environment are a source of concern for scientists. These disasters occur on a regular basis, leading to messy decontamination challenges that require massive investments of time and resources. ...

In zebrafish, the cholera bacterium sets off a surprising flush

Researchers experimenting with live zebrafish witnessed a 200-percent increase in the strength of intestinal contractions soon after exposure to the cholera-causing bacterium Vibrio cholerae, leading to expulsion of native ...

Soil bacterium tapped for penicillin guard duty

A common soil bacterium may hold the key to preserving the germ-killing power of penicillin. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Peoria, Illinois, helped mass produce the antibiotic during World War II to ...

Unpacking a secret of photosynthesis

Researchers at University of Stavanger have brought us one step closer to solving the fundamental question how plants build the photosynthetic machinery.

Natural sniper kills hospital bacterium

Bacteria produce proteins to take out specific competitors. One of these proteins can kill the hospital bacterium pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbial geneticists at KU Leuven, Belgium, have unraveled how this protein launches ...

Unexpected discovery about essential enzyme

The enzyme that produces DNA building blocks plays an important role when cells divide. In a new study, researchers have discovered for the first time that the so-called master switch of the enzyme can change locations—while ...

More complex biological systems evolve more freely

Our genes (aka. the genotype) determine our characteristics (aka. the phenotype). Evolution acts on changes in the phenotype, which occur when mutations change the underlying genotype. But what changes to the phenotype can ...

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