https://phys.org/biology-news/microbiology en-us The latest science news on microbiology and cell biology. Researchers from The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) have developed an innovative fermentation process that produces natural betalain-type food colors. This groundbreaking technology is set to revolutionize the food color industry by offering a more sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional extraction methods. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-nature-palette-reinvented-fermentation-breakthrough.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Fri, 01 Dec 2023 06:38:26 EST news620635090 A tiny but prolific world of microbes encompasses everything around us, both inside and out. Microbiomes, which are comprised of diverse communities of microbes, play a pivotal role in shaping human health, yet the intricacies of how different microbial compositions influence our well-being remain largely unknown. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-microbial-interactions.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:37:04 EST news620584621 A team of U of T Scarborough researchers have discovered that the waxy protective barrier around plants might play a role in sending chemical signals to other plants and insects. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-waxy-surface-key-stronger-crops.html Cell & Microbiology Agriculture Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:05:48 EST news620568346 Biomolecular condensates transport RNA molecules inside of cells for functions such as cell signaling and regulating cell processes, but little is known about how they form distinct compositional identities, similar to how oil and water stay separated. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-rna-molecules-added-condensates-composition.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:57:52 EST news620567869 Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are hot springs on the ocean floor. Sea water penetrates into the ocean crust, becomes heated, and rises to the seafloor surface carrying dissolved nutrients. Around these vents, far from any sunlight, vibrant biological communities are found. Here, microbes play the role of primary producers through chemosynthesis—similar to the role that plants play on land through photosynthesis. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-bacterial-species-hydrothermal-vent-microbial.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:11:04 EST news620565061 A new study led by the University of Oxford has shed light on why certain species of bacteria carry astonishing arsenals of weapons. The findings, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, could help us to engineer microbes that can destroy deadly pathogens, reducing our reliance on antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-mystery-bacteria-extensive-weaponry.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620557079 Phosphorus in wastewater is a major contributor to harmful algal blooms in water bodies around the globe, with the potential to harm wildlife, livestock, and even humans. To prevent this, wastewater treatment plants often rely on chemical- and energy-intensive techniques to remove phosphorus before it can impact downstream water bodies. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-newly-algal-strains-rich-phosphorous.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:21:33 EST news620486490 How do animals make decisions when faced with competing demands, and how have decision making processes evolved over time? In a recent publication in Biology Letters, Tina Barbasch, a postdoctoral researcher at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, and Alison Bell (GNDP), a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, explored these questions using three-spined stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus). https://phys.org/news/2023-11-fish-brains-insight-molecular-basis.html Plants & Animals Cell & Microbiology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:17:46 EST news620486259 The Second Plague Pandemic of the mid-14th century, also known as the Black Death, killed 30–60% of the European population and profoundly changed the course of European history. New research led by Penn State and the University of Adelaide suggests that this plague, potentially through resulting changes in diet and hygiene, may also be associated with a shift in the composition of the human oral microbiome toward one that contributes to chronic diseases in modern-day humans. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-ancient-british-oral-microbiomes-reveals.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:38:04 EST news620480281 A team of microbiologists at McGill University's Redpath Museum, working with a colleague at Tattoo Lounge MTL, has investigated changes to the skin microbiome when a person has an ear pierced and a metal object inserted into the puncture. In their study, reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group collected skin swabs from volunteers before and after their piercings. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-skin-biome-ear-piercing.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:10:01 EST news620478379 Have you ever wondered why we carry two copies of each chromosome in all of our cells? During reproduction, we receive one from each of our parents. This means that we also receive two copies, or alleles, of each gene—one allele per chromosome or parent. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reveals-clever-dosage-mechanism-biallelic.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620476142 A research team has found that microorganisms in the human gut utilize beta-elimination to break down plant natural products and thus make them available to humans. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-decipher-enzyme-scissors-intestinal-microbes.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 10:05:03 EST news620474701 If you added up all the microbes living deep below Earth's surface, the amount of biomass would outweigh all life within our oceans. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-minimalist-maximalist-life-microbe-mile.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 15:25:04 EST news620407501 Living cells are bombarded with many kinds of incoming molecular signal that influence their behavior. Being able to measure those signals and how cells respond to them through downstream molecular signaling networks could help scientists learn much more about how cells work, including what happens as they age or become diseased. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620388967 Researchers at PSI and ETH Zurich have taken connective tissue cells that have been mechanically reprogrammed to resemble stem cells and transplanted them into damaged skin. In their laboratory experiment, they were able to show that this can promote wound healing. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reprogramming-tissue-mechanically-wound.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:43:17 EST news620390592 A team of scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and MIT has spatially mapped the choices stem cells make during tissue regeneration in flatworms, revealing an unexpected finding: Rather than being organized into homogeneous neighborhoods—where one group of stem cells becomes eye cells and another becomes muscle cells, for example—the spatial pattern of stem cell choice is highly heterogeneous, with adjacent stem cells choosing different fates. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-cell-fate-choice-adult-regeneration.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:31:04 EST news620389861 Far too many antibiotics are used around the world. As a result, bacteria are becoming resistant to these drugs. Curing bacterial diseases is becoming more difficult than before because antibiotics are perhaps our foremost weapons in the fight against them. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-method-bacteria-easily.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:50:04 EST news620387402 Countless times a day, patients, visitors and medical staff in hospitals touch surfaces of all kinds. Door handles, railings or elevator buttons can serve as transport vehicles for pathogens such as hospital germs or viruses. Smooth surfaces are comparatively easy to clean after contamination. With porous structures such as textiles, however, this is not that simple. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-coating-fabrics-inhibits-growth-pathogens.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:37:07 EST news620386625 Using new super-resolution microscopes, researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Pennsylvania have for the first time observed electrical charge and discharge functions inside mitochondria isolated from cells. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-uncover-battery-like-functions-mitochondria-super-resolution.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:36:49 EST news620386607 Machine learning is now helping researchers analyze the makeup of unfamiliar cells, which could lead to more personalized medicine in the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-secrets-peptide-sequences-cells-ai.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:06:03 EST news620384761 For successful fertilization, sperm should move forward rapidly and be shaped correctly. The unique structure of the sperm cells forms during spermiogenesis. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit Life & Health at the University of Bonn have found that fertility problems in both mice and humans can be caused by loss of so-called cylicins. This causes defects in the head and tail structure of sperm. The results of the study have now been published in the journal eLife. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-malfunction-spermatogenesis-uncover-contribution-cylicin.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 08:55:04 EST news620384102 Messenger bubbles produced by human cells can pick up bacterial products and deliver them to other cells, University of Connecticut researchers report in the Nov. 16 issue of Nature Cell Biology. The discovery may explain a key mechanism by which bacteria, whether friendly or infectious, affect our health. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-extracellular-vesicles-messages-non-human-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 27 Nov 2023 15:14:03 EST news620320441 A cell nucleus is a busy place. Cellular proteins twist and pull DNA, folding the genome into intricate 3D structures that support functioning of its coding parts. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-team-protein-crucial-cell-differentiation.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:49:06 EST news620318943 Scientists have developed a technique to rapidly and reliably detect genetic changes in malaria parasites in Ghana, using just a gaming laptop and portable MinION sequencer from Oxford Nanopore. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-pocket-sized-dna-sequencers-track-malaria.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 27 Nov 2023 12:43:23 EST news620311400 A recent study spearheaded by Prof. Sigal Ben Yehuda and her team at Hebrew University has unveiled a captivating facet of bacterial dormancy. Their research illuminates the mechanism through which dormant bacterial spores uphold and activate an enduring transcriptional program upon revival, showcasing an extraordinary genetic memory system. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-long-term-genetic-memory-dormant-bacterial.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Mon, 27 Nov 2023 11:34:03 EST news620307241 Caulerpa is a type of marine algae made up of one extended cell, though each plant can grow to be a meter across. While there are many individual nuclei within a Caulerpa plant, it contains no cell membranes that would normally divide the plant into many individual cells, resulting in a free-floating environment of cytoplasmic goo. As a result, Caulerpa poses interesting questions for developmental biologists—how does it carry out the normal functions of plants without being made up of separate cells? https://phys.org/news/2023-11-growth-giant-cell-intertwined-daily.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 24 Nov 2023 11:31:03 EST news620047861 To carry out all of life's functions, proteins must be produced from instructions carried by genes within DNA and delivered to the cell's protein-making machinery by messenger RNA. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-reveal-rna-spliced.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 24 Nov 2023 11:21:03 EST news620047261 Plasmas are used in wound treatment against pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics. However, bacteria can defend themselves. They employ a heat shock protein that protects them. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-bacteria-defend-plasmas.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 24 Nov 2023 10:45:03 EST news620045101 E. coli bacteria may be far more capable of evolving antibiotic resistance than scientists previously thought, according to a new study published in Science on November 24. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-fresh-insights-antibiotic-resistance-landscapes.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Thu, 23 Nov 2023 14:00:01 EST news619867636 Animal embryos go through a series of characteristic developmental stages on their journey from a fertilized egg cell to a functional organism. This biological process is largely genetically controlled and follows a similar pattern across different animal species. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-ai-tempo-stages-embryonic.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 23 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619867707