Microbiology Today: Discovering the secrets of extraordinary life formsNovember 13, 2000Not long ago, the discovery of viruses revolutionized our thinking about the lower limits of microscopic life. Now even small strands of RNA are found to be infectious in plants, and proteins are believed to cross the species barrier and cause brain disease. In the November 2000 issue of Microbiology Today Nicola Spence and Dez Barbara of Horticulture Research International reveal the secrets of viroids: small single stranded particles of RNA, which can bring about devastating losses of crops. Chris Bostock of the Institute of Animal Health discusses current research that is helping to unravel the deadly nature of prion proteins, the prime suspect in BSE and CJD. Also in the November issue of Microbiology Today, popular science writer John Postgate peers into the twilight zones of microbiology, and asks whether the curiosities of today will lead to dramatic scientific advances tomorrow. Gunnar Bratbak and Mikal Heldal report on whether viruses could cause climate change. Nicolas West and Christoph Tang look at the effect of transposons (jumping genes) in microbes on the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. Nanobacteria: smaller than the average bug, some scientists deny their very existence. Yet evidence of these tiny microbes can be gathered from all kinds of environments including deep-sea sediments to gallstones taken from the human body. Allan Hamilton expresses the huge potential impact that nanobacteria could have on our understanding of living systems. Society for General Microbiology |
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| Related Bacteria Current Events and Bacteria News Articles Factors from common human bacteria may trigger multiple sclerosis Current research suggests that a common oral bacterium may exacerbate autoimmune disease. The related report by Nichols et al, "Unique Lipids from a Common Human Bacterium Represent a New Class of TLR2 Ligands Capable of Enhancing Autoimmunity," appears in the December 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Exposure to both traffic, indoor pollutants puts some kids at higher risk for asthma later New research presents strong evidence that the "synergistic" effect of early-life exposure to both outdoor traffic-related pollution and indoor endotoxin causes more harm to developing lungs than one or the other exposure alone. New study finds MRSA on the rise in hospital outpatients The community-associated strain of the deadly superbug MRSA-an infection-causing bacteria resistant to most common antibiotics-poses a far greater health threat than previously known and is making its way into hospitals, according to a study in the December issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. Researchers establish common seasonal pattern among bacterial communities in Arctic rivers New research on bacterial communities throughout six large Arctic river ecosystems reveals predictable temporal patterns, suggesting that scientists could use these communities as markers for monitoring climate change in the polar regions. Biologists discover bacterial defense mechanism against aggressive oxygen Bacteria possess an ingenious mechanism for preventing oxygen from harming the building blocks of the cell. Saving the single cysteine: new antioxidant system found We've all read studies about the health benefits of having a life partner. The same thing is true at the molecular level, where amino acids known as cysteines are much more vulnerable to damage when single than when paired up with other cysteines. Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves. Surface bacteria maintain skin's healthy balance On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a pathway that prevents excessive inflammation after injury. On the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites. Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria Harmful to Human Health Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France. More Bacteria Current Events and Bacteria News Articles |
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