New class of antimicrobials discovered in soil bacteria
Researchers have discovered toxic protein particles, shaped like umbrellas, that soil bacteria known as Streptomyces secrete to squelch competitors, especially others of their own species.
Researchers have discovered toxic protein particles, shaped like umbrellas, that soil bacteria known as Streptomyces secrete to squelch competitors, especially others of their own species.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 17, 2024
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152
Candida albicans is a fungus that occurs naturally in the digestive tract of most people. However, the fungus is not always harmless. It can cause mild to severe infections throughout the body. A toxin, candidalysin, is involved ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 21, 2024
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70
A group of coastal Alaska Native tribes in 2016 began monitoring shellfish, a traditional harvest, for deadly biotoxins because the state only tests commercial harvests. The program fills an essential gap in public health ...
Environment
Mar 21, 2024
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27
Legionnaires' disease (LD), a rare and severe type of pneumonia, is a respiratory infection caused by species of Legionella bacteria. One of the most accurate ways to diagnose LD is to perform culture on samples from a patient's ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 21, 2024
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1
Farmers rely on pesticides to control agricultural pests. But insects often develop resistance to the toxins in pesticides. University of Maryland researchers have developed and successfully tested a strategy for using genomics ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 18, 2024
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14
You suddenly feel sick—pathogenic bacteria have managed to colonize and spread in your body. The weapons they use for their invasion are harmful toxins that target the host's defense mechanisms and vital cell functions. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 19, 2024
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36
What makes a soldier switch sides? That is a really good question, especially when the soldier is an antibody that is supposed to defend the body against one of the world's most dangerous snake venoms but instead ends up ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 16, 2024
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104
Florida's 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon (IRL) borders five different counties and has five inlets that connect the lagoon with the Atlantic Ocean. This estuary has recently experienced numerous phytoplankton bloom events ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 11, 2024
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2
Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a molecular "barcode" system used by disease-causing bacteria to distinguish between beneficial and toxic molecules.
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 8, 2024
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35
PSI researchers have discovered a surprising trick that could expand the possibilities for medical use of botulinun toxin A1, better known under the name Botox, as an active agent. They have developed antibody-like proteins ...
Biochemistry
Dec 18, 2023
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19
A toxin (Greek: τοξικόν, toxikon) is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms. (Although technically man is a living organism, man-made substances created by artificial processes usually aren't considered toxins by this definition.)
For a toxic substance not produced by living organisms, "toxicant" is the more appropriate term, and "toxics" is an acceptable plural.
Toxins can be small molecules, peptides, or proteins that are capable of causing disease on contact with or absorption by body tissues interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes or cellular receptors. Toxins vary greatly in their severity, ranging from usually minor and acute (as in a bee sting) to almost immediately deadly (as in botulinum toxin).
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