Botulinum-type toxins jump to a new kind of bacteria

Enterococci are hardy microbes that thrive in the gastrointestinal tracts of nearly all land animals, including our own, and generally cause no harm. But their ruggedness has lately made them leading causes of multi-drug-resistant ...

Mining the botulinum genome

(Norwich BioScience Institutes) Scientists at the Institute of Food Research have been mining the genome of C. botulinum to uncover new information about the toxin genes that produce the potent toxin behind botulism.

Salt, microbes, acid and heat in food preservation

In an era of grocery stores and home refrigerators, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that, for most of history, people have been bound by the seasonality of food. This reality has long presented humanity with a conundrum: ...

Turning bacteria into butanol biofuel factories

(PhysOrg.com) -- While ethanol is today's major biofuel, researchers aim to produce fuels more like gasoline. Butanol is the primary candidate, now produced primarily by Clostridium bacteria. UC Berkeley chemist Michelle ...

Study hints at probiotics as treatment for Clostridium difficile

Asymptomatic colonization by Clostridium difficile, absent the use of antibiotics, is common in infants and when it happens changes occur in the composition of the gut microbiota according to research published in the March ...

Study carried out into biological risks of eating reptiles

Reptiles are bred in captivity primarily for their skins, but some restaurants and population groups also want them for their meat. A study shows that eating these animals can have side effects that call into question the ...

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