Bad Bacteria and Their Harmless Kin Share, Swap Genes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Comparing the genomes of disease-causing and harmless bacteria, University of Arizona microbiologists found no clear genetic demarcation between the two groups. The bacteria have swapped genes in the past, ...

New study overturns orthodoxy on how macrophages kill bacteria

For decades, microbiologists assumed that macrophages, immune cells that can engulf and poison bacteria and other pathogens, killed microbes by damaging their DNA. A new study from the University of Illinois disproves that.

A bacterial toolkit for colonizing plants

Using a novel experimental approach, Max Planck researchers have discovered a core set of genes required by commensal bacteria to colonize their plant hosts. The findings published in Nature Communications may have broad ...

A potential treatment for multidrug-resistant bacteria

A new type of drug could provide a way to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Instead of targeting the bacteria directly, the drug blocks key toxins involved in the ...

A novel strategy for natural product biosynthesis

Microorganisms produce natural products, for example, as disease-causing virulence factors or as defense substances against predators and competitors. A team led by Dr. Robin Teufel and first author Ying Duan from the Institute ...

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