Tag Archives: metabolism

CU-Boulder-led Team Finds Microbes in Extreme Environment on South American Volcanoes

By Guest PostJune 13, 2012Scienceandrew king, archaea, atacama mountain, atacama region, bacteria, carbon monoxide, chemical reaction, chile argentina border, desert, dimethylsulfide, dna analysis, extreme environment, fluorescent techniques, fungal ecosystems, fungi, glacier retreats, high altitude, maria farias, martian like landscape, metabolism, microbes, mountain area, organisms, peruvian andes, photosynthesis, rocky soils, ryan lynch, south america, steve schmidt, temperature fluctuation, ultraviolet radiation, university of colorado, volcan llullaillaco, volcan socompa, volcanoes

A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder looking for organisms that eke out a living in some of the most inhospitable soils on Earth has found a hardy few.

A new DNA analysis of rocky soils in the Martian-like landscape on some volcanoes in South America has revealed a handful of bacteria, fungi and other rudimentary organisms called archaea, which seem to have a different way of converting energy than their cousins elsewhere in the world.

“We haven’t formally identified or characterized the species,” said Ryan Lynch, a CU-Boulder doctoral student involved in the study. “But these are very different than anything else that has been cultured. Genetically, they’re at least 5 percent different than anything else in the DNA database of 2.5 million sequences.” (more…)

Iconic New Zealand Reptile Shows Chewing is Not Just for Mammals

By Guest PostJune 5, 2012Nature3d, angles, bbsrc, beetles, chewing technique, computer model, crickets, dinosaurs, harmful xrays, iconic, lizard, marc jones, metabolism, musculoskeletal model, neil curtis, new zealand, new zealand tuatara, reptile, sea birds, skull, small lizards, sphenodon, spiders, steak knife, tuatara, university college london, university of hull

The tuatara, an iconic New Zealand reptile, chews its food in a way unlike any other animal on the planet –challenging the widespread perception that complex chewing ability is closely linked to high metabolism.

Using a sophisticated computer model, scientists from UCL and the University of Hull demonstrate how the tuatara is able to slice its food like a “steak knife”. The tuatara’s complex chewing technique raises doubts about the supposed link between chewing and high metabolism in mammals.

The New Zealand tuatara (Sphenodon) is a lizard-like reptile that is the only survivor of a group that was globally widespread at the time of the dinosaurs. It lives on 35 islands scattered around the coast of New Zealand and was recently reintroduced to the mainland. Its diet consists of beetles, spiders, crickets, small lizards and, occasionally, sea birds. (more…)

Researchers Find Potential ‘Dark Side’ To Diets High In Beta-Carotene

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Healthabdulkerim eroglu, africa, antioxidant, asia, beta-carotene, carlo dela sena, carotenoids, carrots, dark side, diet, earl harrison, gene, golden maize, health hazard, immune function, metabolism, molecule, ohio state university, robert curley, shockwave, south america, steven schwartz, sureshbabu narayanasamy, sweet potatoes, synthetic molecule, vitamin A

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that there could be health hazards associated with consuming excessive amounts of beta-carotene.

This antioxidant is a naturally occurring pigment that gives color to foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes and certain greens. It also converts to vitamin A, and foods and supplements are the only sources for this essential nutrient.

But scientists at Ohio State University have found that certain molecules that derive from beta-carotene have an opposite effect in the body: They actually block some actions of vitamin A, which is critical to human vision, bone and skin health, metabolism and immune function. (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…)

CU-Boulder Python Study May Have Implications for Human Heart Health

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Health, Sciencebeneficial growth of heart cells, blood of burmese pythons, blood plasma, bloodstreams, brooke harrison, cardiac health, cardio protective enzyme, cecilia riquelme, cyclist, fatty acids, fed python blood plasma, genetic heart diseases, healthy heart growth, heart disease conditions in humans, hiberna corp, human heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, jason magida, key enzyme, lance armstrong, leslie leinwand, main constituent of natural fats and oils, metabolism, michael phelps, mini pumps, olympic swimmer, plasma, pythons, sudden death in young athletes, tom cech, triglycerides, university of colorado boulder

A surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that huge amounts of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstreams of feeding pythons promote healthy heart growth, results that may have implications for treating human heart disease.

CU-Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand and her research team found the amount of triglycerides — the main constituent of natural fats and oils — in the blood of Burmese pythons one day after eating increased by more than fiftyfold. Despite the massive amount of fatty acids in the python bloodstream there was no evidence of fat deposition in the heart, and the researchers also saw an increase in the activity of a key enzyme known to protect the heart from damage. (more…)

Kartchner Caverns: A Living Microbe Laboratory

By Guest PostMay 20, 2011Scienceanti fungal, anti microbial, bacterial communities, cave dwelling microbes, dna fragments, gene sequences, genetic structure, genetic survey of microbes, kartchner caverns, living laboratory, marian ortiz, metabolism, microbe, microbial communities, organisms, pcr, polymerase chain reaction, pyrosequencing, southern arizona, speleothems, stalactites, stalagmites, university of arizona, whetstone mountains

*In the first extensive genetic survey of microbes living in Kartchner Caverns, UA doctoral candidate Marian Ortiz has shown that some of the cave-dwelling microbes may have anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.*

In a hole in the ground, there lives a microbe. Actually, there live several microbes. What are they and how do they survive in conditions practically devoid of resources or other forms of life?

Doctoral candidate Marian Ortiz in the University of Arizona’s department of soil, water and environmental science is trying to find out. (more…)

Dangerous Chemicals in Food Wrappers Likely Migrating to Humans

By Guest PostNovember 14, 2010Culture, Healthblood, chemical contamination, chemicals, fast food, food, human blood, human chemical exposure, humans, jessica d’eon, junk food wrappers, metabolism, microwave popcorn bags, pap concentrations, paps, perfluorinated carboxylic acids, perfluorooctanoic acid, pfcas, pfoa, polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters, scott mabury

Image credit: University of Toronto

U of T scientists have found that chemicals used to line junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood.

Perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are the breakdown products of chemicals used to make non-stick and water- and stain-repellant products ranging from kitchen pans to clothing to food packaging. PFCAs, the best known of which is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are found in humans all around the world.

“We suspected that a major source of human PFCA exposure may be the consumption and metabolism of polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters or PAPs,” said Jessica D’eon, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. “PAPs are applied as greaseproofing agents to paper food contact packaging such as fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags.” (more…)

Obesity: Yale Researcher Explains Why It’s All in Our Heads

By Guest PostOctober 28, 20101 commentHealth, Sciencealzheimer, appetite, diabetes, environmental factors, estrogen, genetic, higher brain functions, human brain imaging, hungary, hypothalamus, metabolic disorders, metabolism, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, parkinson, pioneer award, tamas horvath, type 2 diabetes, veterinary medicine, yale daily bulletin

Tamas Horvath. Image credit: Yale University

Tamas Horvath is the first to tell you that he doesn’t study obesity. But his research on the effects of metabolism on higher brain functions could provide deeper understanding of the brain’s link to appetite, weight and to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.

His lab was the first to provide evidence that the brain uses fat as fuel. Horvath has also studied how endocrine signals in the brain regulate neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Horvath followed his father and grandfather into veterinary medicine in his native Hungary, but his training sparked a passion for basic research. His achievements have earned him a long title that speaks to his varied research interests. He became chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine in 2005, and he is also a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology. Horvath also heads the Program on Integrative Cell Signaling and the Neurobiology of Metabolism. (more…)