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Sailing in a Sea of Microbes

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Sciencealgae, Arctic, atmospheric chemistry, bacteria, biogeochemical cycles, biomass, carbon dioxide, Chile, climate, daniel stolte, easter island, Environment, food production, genome, Germany, global warming, grassroots initiative, greenhouse gas, matt sullivan, melissa duhaime, microbe, ocean water, oceans, oxygen production, pacific ocean, research vessel, saguaro cacti, sequence, tara oceans, ua, university of arizona, wolves, world of viruses, world of webs

Researchers led by Matt Sullivan at the UA are among the first to dive into the world of viruses drifting through the world’s oceans.

Surrounded by the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean stretching from horizon to horizon, a lonely dot is glinting in the sun. It is the aluminum hull of a sailboat, a 118-foot schooner with white sails billowing from two masts.

On the deck, crewmembers and scientists are milling about. Commands are flying back and forth, and soon a strange contraption consisting of tubes clustered around an array of sensors dangling from a crane is lowered into the water, until it disappears in the clear blue depths. (more…)

In The Mouth, Smoking Zaps Healthy Bacteria, Welcomes Pathogens

By Guest PostFebruary 20, 2012Healthbacteria, biofilm, bone loss, chad matthews, cytokines, dental plaque, disease, diverse ecosystem, dna signature, ecosystem, gingivitis, good bacteria, harmful bacteria, healthy bacteria, marcelo aspiras, marko de jager, maureen langlois, microbial community, ohio state university, periodontitis, philips oral healthcare, purnimakumar, smokers, smoking, swab, swollen gums, types of cytokines, vinayak joshi

COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to a new study, smoking causes the body to turn against its own helpful bacteria, leaving smokers more vulnerable to disease.

Despite the daily disturbance of brushing and flossing, the mouth of a healthy person contains a stable ecosystem of healthy bacteria. New research shows that the mouth of a smoker is a much more chaotic, diverse ecosystem—and is much more susceptible to invasion by harmful bacteria. (more…)

Why Bad Immunity Genes Survive

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2012Health, Scienceankylosing spondylitis, antagonistic co evolution, antibiotics, arms race, autoimmune diseases, bacteria, cells, cornelius whitney hyzer, gene, genetics, george gilchrist, germs, immune system, infection, infectious diseases, james ruff, jason kubinak, major histocompatibility complex, mhc, mhc variants, mhcs, mice, national science foundation, parasite, pathogens, patricia slev, people, protein, university of utah, variant, vertebrate animals, virus, wayne potts

*Study implicates “arms race” between genes and germs*

Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs–even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.

“Major histocompatibility complex” (MHC) proteins are found on the surfaces of most cells in vertebrate animals. They distinguish proteins like themselves from foreign proteins, and trigger an immune response against these foreign invaders. (more…)

MSU Researchers Show How New Viruses Evolve, And in Some Cases, Become Deadly

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2012Sciencebacteria, beacon, beneficial mutation, bird flu, devin dobias, e coli bacterium, evolve, jeff barrick, justin meyer, lambda, michigan state university, mutation, natural selection, Netherlands, new virus, ompf protein, ribbon diagram, richard lenski, ryan quick, Science, survival of the fittest, united states, virus evolution

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the current issue of Science, researchers at Michigan State University demonstrate how a new virus evolves, which sheds light on how easy it can be for diseases to gain dangerous mutations.

The scientists showed for the first time how the virus called “Lambda” evolved to find a new way to attack host cells, an innovation that took four mutations to accomplish. This virus infects bacteria, in particular the common E. coli bacterium. Lambda isn’t dangerous to humans, but this research demonstrated how viruses evolve complex and potentially deadly new traits, said Justin Meyer, MSU graduate student, who co-authored the paper with Richard Lenski, MSU Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. (more…)

Upper Atmosphere Facilitates Changes That Let Mercury Enter Food Chain

By Guest PostJanuary 5, 2012Environmentaquatic ecosystems, atmosphere, bacteria, bangor, broomfield, chemical reactor, climate conditions, coal burning in asia, daniel jaffe, ecosystem impacts, Europe, food chain, humans, lower stratosphere, maine, mercury, mercury contaminated fish, mercury emissions, metallic element, methyl mercury, North America, oxidation, oxidized mercury, research aircraft, seth lyman, southwest united states, university of washington bothell, upper atmosphere, upper troposphere, vapor

Humans pump thousands of tons of vapor from the metallic element mercury into the atmosphere each year, and it can remain suspended for long periods before being changed into a form that is easily removed from the atmosphere.

New research shows that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere work to transform elemental mercury into oxidized mercury, which can easily be deposited into aquatic ecosystems and ultimately enter the food chain. (more…)

E. Coli Bacteria Engineered to Eat Switchgrass and Make Transportation Fuels

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2011Environment, Scienceagricultural waste, anthe george, bacteria, berkeley lab, biofuel production, biofuels, blake simmons, bradley holmes, cellulolytic, cellulose, chemistry, christopher voigt, danielle tullman ercek, diesel, e coli, enzyme, eric steen, gasoline, green, gregory bokinsky, hemicellulolytic, hemicelluloses, ionic liquid, jay keasling, jbei, jeffrey dietrich, jet fuels, joint bioenergy institute, lignin, lignocellulosic biomass, lignocellulosic feedstocks, microbes, milestone, molten salt, pamela peralta yahya, renewable alternative, strains of escherichia coli bacteria, sugars, switchgrass biomass, synthesize, taek soon lee, woody material

*Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) Researchers Reach Milestone on the Road to Biofuels*

A milestone has been reached on the road to developing advanced biofuels that can replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels with a domestically-produced clean, green, renewable alternative.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered the first strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that can digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into all three of those transportation fuels. What’s more, the microbes are able to do this without any help from enzyme additives. (more…)

A Tailored Pair of Genes

By Guest PostNovember 22, 2011Scienceagriculture, alfalfa like legume, ancestor of legumes, ancestral genes, ancient plants, asteroid, backbone of protein, bacteria, beans, cretaceous period, crop plants, demise of the dinosaurs, dinosaurs, disaster, earth, eggs, fertilizers, genes, genetically engineer legumes, genomes, humans, legumes, living together, major nutrient, medicago truncatula, model, nevin young, nitrogen, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen fixing bacteria, nonsynthetic nitrogen fertilizer, peanuts, peas, sequencing genome, soybeans, sperm, synthetic fertilizer, university of minnesota

*For ancient plants, two genes were definitely better than one*

In the wake of the disaster that killed the dinosaurs, the ancestors of today’s crop plants reinvented themselves.

They doubled their genomes, and in that single act set the stage for feeding the world 60 million years later.

In a study published in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Nature, researchers from the University of Minnesota and other institutions recount how sequencing the genome of a model, alfalfa-like legume revealed the monumental benefits that flowed when the ancestor of legumes acquired an extra copy of every gene. (more…)

New Mouthwash Targeting Harmful Bacteria May Render Tooth Decay A Thing of The Past

By Guest PostNovember 19, 2011Healthamericans, anti dental caries drug, antimicrobial technology, bacteria, broad spectrum antibiotics, c16g2, c3 jian inc, cavities, colgate palmolive, dental caries, experimental mouthwash, fluoride, human body, infectious diseases, microbiologist, mouthwash, no hee park, normal ecological balance, optimum health, parasitic infections, pathogenic organisms, s mutans bacteria, small scale study, smart bomb, streptococcus mutans, thomas mitchell, tooth decay, ucla, united states, wenyuan shi, yeast

A new mouthwash developed by a microbiologist at the UCLA School of Dentistry is highly successful in targeting the harmful Streptococcus mutans bacteria that is the principal cause tooth decay and cavities.

In a recent clinical study, 12 subjects who rinsed just one time with the experimental mouthwash experienced a nearly complete elimination of the S. mutans bacteria over the entire four-day testing period. The findings from the small-scale study are published in the current edition of the international dental journal Caries Research. (more…)

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