New biosynthetic pathway unique to pathogenic microorganisms
Scientists have discovered a unique biosynthetic pathway for D-Glutamate, an important cell wall component in pathogenic bacteria, which could lead to the development of medicines and agricultural...
View ArticleFungi that evolved to eat wood offer new biomass conversion tool
Twenty years ago, microbiologist Barry Goodell, now a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and colleagues discovered a unique system that some microorganisms use to digest and recycle...
View ArticleHow bacteria maintain and recover their shape
Bacteria come in all shapes and sizes—some are straight as a rod, others twist like a corkscrew. Shape plays an important role in how bacteria infiltrate and attack cells in the body. The helical shape...
View ArticleSpinning plant waste into carbon fiber for cars, planes
Using plants and trees to make products such as paper or ethanol leaves behind a residue called lignin, a component of plant cell walls. That leftover lignin isn't good for much and often gets burned...
View ArticleResearchers break through the wall in bacterial membrane vesicle research
Many bacteria release membrane vesicles, which are nanoscale spheres consisting of a cellular membrane containing biomolecules. Membrane vesicles can transport DNA and proteins, and are involved in...
View ArticleEnzyme's worth to biofuels shown in latest research
An enzyme discovered at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) proves adept at breaking down cellulose fibers regardless of whether their crystalline...
View ArticleRicin only lethal in combination with sugar
The plant toxin ricin is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring proteins, making it an extremely dangerous bioweapon. Ricin attacks have made headlines a number of times over the years,...
View ArticleResearchers aim to improve gut health of livestock animals
Researchers at the University of Delaware are looking into what causes that gut feeling in livestock animals such as cows and chickens.
View ArticleDelignification of wood samples using p-toluenesulfonic acid as a recyclable...
(Phys.org)—Lignin is an important component of the cell wall in plant cells and accounts for rigid structures, such as tree bark. It is an organic polymer that is insoluble in water, and encases...
View ArticlePredatory bacteria that engineer portholes and paint frescoes in harmful...
A microbiological mystery of how one bacterium could invade another and grow inside it without breaking the other bacterium instantly has been illuminated by scientists at the University of Nottingham...
View ArticleWhite rot fungi's size explained by breadth of gene families involved
Among the contenders for the world's largest living organism is something usually considered much smaller than a blue whale, or a towering sequoia. This particular organism is so big, one needs an...
View ArticleUncovering bacterial cell wall secrets to combat antibiotic resistance
Cell walls—the jacket-like structures that surround all known bacteria—may turn out to be bacteria's undoing , holding the key to developing new drugs that target it for destruction.
View ArticleUsing neutrons to study how resistant bacteria evolve
The discovery of penicillin almost 90 years ago ushered in the age of modern antibiotics, but the growth of antibiotic resistance means bacterial infections like pneumonia and tuberculosis are becoming...
View ArticleWhy plants form sprouts in the dark
A signal from the cell wall decides that, in the dark, seeds grow into long yellow sprouts, instead of turning green and forming leaves. The signal that switches on the darkness programme in seedling...
View ArticleNanoparticles can limit inflammation by distracting the immune system
A surprise finding suggests that an injection of nanoparticles may be able to help fight the immune system when it goes haywire, researchers at the University of Michigan have shown. The nanoparticles...
View ArticleStudy speeds transformation of biofuel waste into useful chemicals
A Sandia National Laboratories-led team has demonstrated faster, more efficient ways to turn discarded plant matter into chemicals worth billions. The team's findings could help transform the economics...
View ArticleMicrobial resident enables beetles to feed on a leafy diet
An international team including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has described a bacterium residing in a species of leaf beetles which has an unexpected feature: it...
View ArticleResearchers use fluorescent carbon nanotube probes to detect ovarian cancer
Researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have refined and, for the first time, run in vivo tests of a method that may allow nanotube-based probes to locate...
View ArticleHow plants form their seeds
Vegetable, fruit, or grain – the majority of our food results from plant reproduction. Researchers at UZH have now discovered the key to how plants regulate pollen growth and seed formation. In...
View ArticleLess chewing the cud, more greening the fuel
Plant biomass contains considerable calorific value but most of it makes up robust cell walls, an unappetising evolutionary advantage that helped grasses to survive foragers and prosper for more than...
View ArticleClean and green—a moss that removes lead from water
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have demonstrated that that moss can be a green alternative for decontaminating polluted water and soil. Published in...
View ArticleHigh-resolution imaging gives an unparalleled view of how fungi grow
Fungi are a diverse group of organisms that are ever-present in daily life; from the yeast used to ferment beer and the mushrooms at the supermarket to the pathogen responsible for athlete's foot. Many...
View ArticleResearchers find blood vessel endothelial cells stop more nanoparticles than...
Nanoparticles that transport medicines to a specific part of the human body are usually broken down in the liver prematurely. Jeroen Bussmann from Leiden University has discovered a new method to...
View ArticleHow fungi make nutrients available to the world
Like most of us, trees don't want to be eaten alive.
View ArticleStudy shines new light on how Salmonella 'die' at low temperatures
The most economical way to kill bacteria that cause common food-borne illnesses—mostly caused by Salmonella enterica—is heat, but, the mechanisms that kill Salmonella at lower temperatures were not...
View ArticleResearchers raise a 170-million-year question over mysterious moss gene
Researchers have identified a fused gene in moss that provides insight into how cells build their external walls. The same discovery raises questions about the one-of-a-kind gene that features two...
View ArticleGene improves plant growth and conversion to biofuels
A research team led by the University of Georgia has discovered that manipulation of the same gene in poplar trees and switchgrass produced plants that grow better and are more efficiently converted to...
View ArticleGenetic study of soil organisms reveals new family of antibiotics
A team of researchers at Rockefeller University has discovered a new family of antibiotics by conducting a genetic study of a wide range of soil microorganism antibiotics. In their paper published in...
View ArticleNew research identifies plant cell wall sensing mechanism
An international collaboration of plant researchers this week reports yet another newly discovered role for the versatile receptor kinase, FERONIA, in the model plant Arabidopsis. The researchers say...
View ArticleScientists unearth secrets of Sir Alexander Fleming's medical breakthroughs
A century after Sir Alexander Fleming made two of the most important medical breakthroughs, scientists have unlocked the secret of how his discoveries may contribute to recurrent patient infections.
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