All Articles Tagged As: bacteria

Scientists Manipulate Group Behavior in Bacteria (8/10/2008)

Researchers have shown that bacterial communication can be intercepted and chemically manipulated to control group behavior, such as virulence or the production of a useful products. ...> Full Article

Scientists a step closer to producing fuel from bacteria (8/9/2008)

Using mathematical computer models, researchers have mapped the metabolism of a type of bacteria called Nostoc. ...> Full Article

Engineer Taps Heat-Loving Bacteria for Hydrogen (8/1/2008)

Learning how heat-loving bacteria called thermotogales produce large amounts of hydrogen with unusually high efficiencies ...> Full Article

Biofilms use chemical weapons (7/25/2008)

Researcher discovers defense strategies used by biofilm bacteria ...> Full Article

Researchers unravel bacteria communication pathways (6/16/2008)

Researchers have figured out how bacteria ensure that they respond correctly to hundreds of incoming signals from their environment. ...> Full Article

Scientists characterize protein structure of environmentally friendly bacteria (5/23/2008)

Scientists have determined the structure of a key protein domain in a bacterium that could help with bioremediation of uranium-contaminated land sites. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find New Details Following the Path of Solar Energy During Photosynthesis (4/26/2008)

Researchers report on the energy-transferring functions within the Fenna-Matthews-Olson photosynthetic light-harvesting protein, a pigment-protein complex in green sulfur bacteria that serves as a model system because it consists of only seven well-characterized pigment molecules ...> Full Article

Scientists deconstruct process of bacterial division (4/19/2008)

Researchers have made a major advance in understanding how bacteria divide ...> Full Article

Scientists launch first comprehensive database of human oral microbiome (3/30/2008)

Scientists know more today than ever before about the microbes that inhabit our mouths. They know so much, in fact, that gathering all of the relevant bits of information into one place when designing experiments can be a job in itself. Now, grantees of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their international colleagues intend to solve this problem with the launch of the first comprehensive database of the oral microbiome, or the approximately 600 distinct microorganisms currently known to live in the mouth. ...> Full Article

Marine bacteria's mealtime dash is a swimming success (3/18/2008)

Goldfish in an aquarium are able to dash after food flakes at mealtime, reaching them before they sink or are eaten by other fish. Researchers at MIT recently proved that marine bacteria, the smallest creatures in the ocean, behave in a similar fashion at mealtime, using their swimming skills to reach tiny food patches that appear randomly in the ocean blue. ...> Full Article

X-rays shed light on magnetic bacteria to improve cancer therapy (3/17/2008)

Scientists have identified that certain naturally occurring bacteria are able to create tiny magnets that could be intensified and developed for use in cancer treatments. ...> Full Article

Microorganisms used to cut toxins in groundwater (3/16/2008)

Scientist invents a treatment system, called the membrane biofilm reactor, which uses naturally occurring microorganisms to remove contaminants from water ...> Full Article

Invention Promises Major Advance in BioFuel Production (3/12/2008)

Research that started with bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay has led to a process that may be able to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline. ...> Full Article

Researchers visualize complex pigment mixtures in living cells (3/9/2008)

In a technical advance that could allow researchers to watch cells as they act during the process of photosynthesis, scientists have developed a method that extends the power of fluorescence-mediated bio-imaging to see discrete pigments inside live cells of bacteria. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover key for converting waste to electricity (3/4/2008)

Researchers studying bacteria capable of generating electricity have discovered that riboflavin (commonly known as vitamin B-2) is responsible for much of the energy produced by these organisms. ...> Full Article

Researcher studies how enzymes break down cellulose (1/31/2008)

Researcher is studying enzymes produced by fungi and bacteria that break down cellulose ...> Full Article

A better biocell (1/26/2008)

As Calgary grows, so does its environmental footprint. At current rates, city landfills will be used up in 30 to 40 years. However, a new approach to waste disposal could extend the lifespan of Calgary landfills to a century. This University of Calgary-designed technology is already turning garbage into fuel. ...> Full Article

Paired microbes eliminate methane using sulfur pathway (1/20/2008)

Anaerobic microbes in the Earth's oceans consume 90 percent of the methane produced by methane hydrates - methane trapped in ice - preventing large amounts of methane from reaching the atmosphere. Researchers now have evidence that the two microbes that accomplish this feat do not simply reverse the way methane-producing microbes work, but use a sulfur compound instead. ...> Full Article

New fund aims to make clean biofuel a reality (1/17/2008)

If we wanted to create the ideal environmentally friendly energy source, it would be a fuel that is easy and economical to produce, and one that does not pollute the air when burned. That is exactly what researchers at ASU intend to develop in a new program that uses bacteria and sunlight to generate hydrogen, a clean fuel that produces no greenhouse gases. ...> Full Article

Winemaking Waste Proves Effective Against Disease-Causing Bacteria in Early Studies (1/10/2008)

Potential Source of Next-Generation Drugs Against Oral Disease: Pinot Noir ...> Full Article

Toward A Rosetta Stone For Microbes' Secret Language (1/1/2008)

Scientists are on the verge of decoding the special chemical language that bacteria use to "talk" to each other, British researchers report. That achievement could lead to new treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including so-called superbugs that infect more than 90,000 people in the United States each year, they note. ...> Full Article

Nylon reveals its antibiotic powers (12/23/2007)

Nylon, we know, is incredibly versatile, strong and resilient. Now, it may be possible to add antibiotic powers to the list of qualities for the wonder synthetic material. ...> Full Article

Cattle Fed Byproducts Of Ethanol Production Harbor Dangerous E. Coli Bacteria (12/14/2007)

Ethanol plants and livestock producers have created a symbiotic relationship. Cattle producers feed their livestock distiller's grains, a byproduct of the ethanol distilling process, giving ethanol producers have an added source of income. ...> Full Article

'Hellish' hot springs yield greenhouse gas-eating bug (12/10/2007)

Methane-gobbling bacteria could aid climate change battle, according to U of C biologist ...> Full Article

Novel Technology Used To Identify Unexpected Bacteria In Cystic Fibrosis Patients (12/7/2007)

Molecular technology developed by a University of Colorado at Boulder professor to probe extreme life forms in undersea hydrothermal vents has been used to identify unexpected bacteria strains in the lung fluid of Denver children suffering from cystic fibrosis, findings that may lead to more effective therapies. ...> Full Article

Single-cell sensitive biological sensor works in liquid (11/29/2007)

Microscopic, magnetized balls of Styrofoam have been turned into inexpensive biological sensors in a University of Michigan laboratory. ...> Full Article

Bacteria shed light on an important group of human proteins (11/26/2007)

Researchers have found the solution of the first crystal structure of a member of the Rhesus protein family and thereby shed new light on a group of proteins of great importance in human transfusion medicine. ...> Full Article

Clean, carbon-neutral hydrogen on the horizon (11/14/2007)

Hydrogen as an everyday, environmentally friendly fuel source may be closer than we think. ...> Full Article

Newly solved structure reveals how cells resist oxygen damage (10/19/2007)

Singlet oxygen, a byproduct of the photosynthetic process by which certain cells convert sunlight into energy, is a highly toxic and reactive substance that tears cells apart. Now scientists have become the first to solve the structure of a protein complex that protects these cells from singlet oxygen. The findings not only advance knowledge of how cells sense the presence of singlet oxygen, but also how they turn on critical genes to defend themselves from its effects. ...> Full Article

Unmasking the methane eaters (10/17/2007)

Soil bacteria that consume the powerful greenhouse gas methane could be important in fighting climate change. A team of European scientists is beginning to understand how communities of them work together in real soils. ...> Full Article

Learning What Makes a Simple Circadian Clock Tick (10/6/2007)

Researchers have figured out how a bacterial circadian clock ticks away using only three interacting proteins. They have shown that the cellular equivalent of this clock's pendulum and timing gear is so rugged that it can keep precise time for weeks even after its components have been isolated from bacteria and placed in a test tube. ...> Full Article