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Enterhaken und Stacheldraht aus Treibhausgas: Ungewöhnliches mikrobielles Leben in der Tiefe

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2014Scienceaditi thapar, antioxidant properties, biofilm, biologische signalprozesse, bmvg, bwi gmbh, co2 bilanz, german pension fund, indian food, kohlendioxid, management kreise, michael wagner, mikroorganismen, oekosystem, placebo controlled study, rodrigo duterte, stephan haagen, theravalues corp, thomas rattei

Das mikrobielle Leben in der Tiefe liefert einen wichtigen Beitrag zu biogeochemischen Vorgängen verschiedenster Ökosysteme. Ein Fenster in den Untergrund stellen tiefe Süßwasserquellen dar, die Mikroorganismen nach oben transportieren. Neben Bakterien finden sich darin auch sogenannte Archaeen. Diese Mikroorganismen bilden eine eigene Domäne des Lebens. Ein internationales ForscherInnenteam hat nun die Biologie eines bislang unkultivierten Archaeons untersucht und fand heraus, dass es Kohlendioxid verbraucht und damit zur CO2-Bilanz der Erde beiträgt. WissenschafterInnen der Universität Wien analysierten dessen Genom und seinen Stoffwechsel.

Bachnetzwerke regulieren mikrobielle Gemeinschaftsgefüge

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2014Sciencebiodiversitaet, biofilm, blogger cocomadkilla, brand glowrious, cocomadkilla, feng, ferroelectret nanogenerator, mensch, nelson sepulveda, oekosystem, parentalen umwelteffekt, silicone wafer, swiss blogger, umwelt, universitaet wien, wei li

Biofilme im Bachnetzwerk der Ybbs analysiert

Ein interdisziplinäres Forschungsteam rund um den Limnologen Tom J. Battin von der Universität Wien zeigt erstmals, dass die Organisation mikrobieller Lebensgemeinschaften von der Organisation der Umwelt, in der die Mikroorganismen leben, beeinflusst wird. Die WissenschafterInnen sequenzierten dazu die DNA von Biofilmen aus 114 Bächen im Einzugsgebiet der Ybbs und errechneten über Netzwerkanalysen das Gefüge der mikrobiellen Gemeinschaften. Ihre Ergebnisse publizieren sie in der renommierten Fachzeitschrift PNAS. (more…)

Even Bacteria Use Social Networks

By Guest PostAugust 10, 2013Sciencebacteria, berkeley lab scientists, biofilm, chain like membranes, chains of vesicles, coordinate social activities, cryo electron microscopy, cryo tomography, e coli, facebook stream, imaging techniques, m xanthus, manfred auer, model, myxococcus xanthus, social networks, soil microbes, spherical organelles, vesicles

Berkeley Lab scientists image cell-to-cell connections between soil microbes

The next time your Facebook stream is filled with cat videos, think about Myxococcus xanthus.The single-cell soil bacterium also uses a social network. But forget silly distractions. M. xanthus relies on its connections to avoid getting eaten and to score its next meal.

That’s the latest insight from a team of Berkeley Lab scientists. Using several imaging techniques, they saw for the first time that M. xanthus cells are connected by a network of chain-like membranes. (more…)

Synchrotron Infrared Unveils a Mysterious Microbial Community

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2013Science16s rrna gene, acid mine runoff, advanced light source, alexander probst, als, ancient things, another amazing lifestyle, archaea, bacteria, barbs, berkeley lab, biochemistry, biofilm, black smokers, boiling hot springs, bsisb, carbon, christine moissl eichinger, common hydrocarbon, deep sea, deepwater horizon, dna microarray, extremophiles, fatty acids, fourier transform, functional groups, giovanni birarda, gulf of mexico, hami, hami protein, hoi-ying Holman, hooks, hydrogen atoms, infrared spectromicroscopy, inhospitable environments, jet propulsion laboratory, kasthuri venkateswaran, latin, long alkylic chains, lovers, membrane lipids, microbe samples, muehlbacher schwefelquelle, mysterious microbial community, NASA, oil plume, oil spill research, phylochip, protein strands, second genome, sippenauer moor, sm1 euryarchaeon, sm1 research team, southern germany, sr ftir, strings of pearls, sulfur springs, synchrotron ftir, synchrotron infrared, synchrotron radiation, syntrophic, todd desantis, university of regensburg

Berkeley Lab scientists join an international collaboration to understand how archaea and bacteria work together deep in a cold sulfur spring

In the fall of 2010, Hoi-Ying Holman of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) was approached by an international team researching a mysterious microbial community discovered deep in cold sulfur springs in southern Germany.

“They told me what they were doing and said, ‘We know what you contributed to the oil-spill research,’” recalls Holman, who heads the Chemical Ecology group in Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division. “They wondered if I could help them determine the biochemistry of their microbe samples.” (more…)

Deadly E. coli Strain Decoded

By Guest PostJuly 30, 2012Health, Science2011 outbreak, achilles heel, bacterium, biofilm, chris waters, e coli o157, e coli outbreak, e coli strain, german outbreak, Germany, michigan state university, o157 infection, shannon manning, shiga toxin, toxic gene

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The secret to the deadly 2011 E. coli outbreak in Germany has been decoded, thanks to research conducted at Michigan State University.

The deadliest E. coli outbreak ever, which caused 54 deaths and sickened more than 3,800 people, was traced to a particularly virulent strain that researchers had never seen in an outbreak before. In the current issue of the academic journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers led by Shannon Manning, MSU molecular biologist and epidemiologist, suggests a way to potentially tame the killer bacteria. (more…)

Selenium Controls Staph on Implant Material

By Guest PostJune 26, 2012Scienceantibiotic coating, antibiotic drugs, axena technologies, biofilm, brown university, catheters, colonies of bacteria, combat bacteria, endotracheal tubes, hermann foundation, immune system, keiko tarquinio, polycarbonate, qi wang, selenium, selenium nanoparticle, staph, staph population, staphylococcus aureus, thomas webster

A coating of selenium nanoparticles significantly reduces the growth of Staphylococcus aureus on polycarbonate, a material common in implanted devices such as catheters and endotracheal tubes, engineers at Brown University report in a new study.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Selenium is an inexpensive element that naturally belongs in the body. It is also known to combat bacteria. Still, it had not been tried as an antibiotic coating on a medical device material. In a new study, Brown University engineers report that when they used selenium nanoparticles to coat polycarbonate, the material of catheters and endotracheal tubes, the results were significant reductions in cultured populations of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, sometimes by as much as 90 percent.

“We want to keep the bacteria from generating a biofilm,” said Thomas Webster, professor of engineering and orthopaedics, who studies how nanotechnology can improve medical implants. He is the senior author of the paper, published online this week in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research A. (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…)

What Bacteria Don’t Know Can Hurt Them

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2012Scienceactual infections, amruta joshi datar, antibiotic, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic sensitive bacteria, antibiotic targets, bacteria, bacteria in biofilms, bacterial functions, biofilm, cells, chronic wounds, cystic fibrosis, dao nguyen, elizabeth bauerle, infection, karlyn beer, lungs, mcgill university, metabolism, microbiologist, natural environment, nutrient, oxygen, paradox, pradeep singh, radicals, resistance, richard siehnel, starvation, starved bacteria, toxic forms, toxic radicals

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

A key cause of this resistance is that bacteria become starved for nutrients during infection. Starved bacteria resist killing by nearly every type of antibiotic, even ones they have never been exposed to before. (more…)

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