https://phys.org/biology-news/microbiology en-us The latest science news on microbiology and cell biology. When a cell spreads out or changes its shape to adapt to its environment, the transport rate of proteins between the nucleus and cytoplasm changes. Previously, scientists assumed this change was caused by a shift in the size of the nuclear envelope's pores; however, recent research findings have discovered an alternate explanation. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-insights-cell-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:02:03 EDT news638118121 University of Manchester scientists have linked one of the ways that cells respond to stressful conditions with restricted healthy hair growth. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-link-ancient-biology-restricted.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:18:03 EDT news638115481 Advances in organoids and embryonic models of human development have the potential to prompt social and existential questions—e.g., what defines human individuality? However, bioethicist Insoo Hyun of Harvard Medical School and the Museum of Science in Boston says that these models have the potential to strengthen rather than weaken the concept of human individuality when considered within the philosophical frameworks of "personhood" and sentience. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-embryo-organoid-threaten-definition-personhood.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news638094739 A team of medical researchers and infectious disease specialists affiliated with multiple institutions in China, working with a pair of colleagues, one from Singapore, the other from Canada, has found evidence bolstering theories that suggest as the planet warms, fungi could become more dangerous to humans. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-evidence-climate-fungi-dangerous.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:35 EDT news638099250 Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology report the discovery of at least six orders of endosymbiont Symbiodolus clandestinus, which lives inside insect cells. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, they showed that Symbiodolus is present in all life stages and tissues of infected insects. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-hidden-partners-symbiodolus-bacteria-insect.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:32:38 EDT news638094754 People often underestimate tiny beings. But microscopic algal cells not only evolved to thrive in one of the most extreme habitats on Earth—glaciers—but are also shaping them. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-glacier-algae-evolution.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:59:04 EDT news638017141 Looking under the microscope, a group of cells slowly moves forward in a line, like a train on the tracks. The cells navigate through complex environments. A new approach by researchers involving the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows how they do this and how they interact with each other. The experimental observations and the following mathematical concept are published in Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-railroad-cells-simulations-cell-movement.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news637940162 A new study from the Zaher Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, published in Molecular Cell, dives into the mechanisms behind the ways cells respond to stress. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-biologists-closer-stress-response-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 15:28:02 EDT news637943281 Formation of the body axes is a critical part of embryonic development. They guarantee that all body parts end up where they belong and that no ears grow on our backs. The head-tail axis, for example, determines the orientation of the two ends of the body. It was previously assumed that this axis is largely determined by the interplay between the Nodal and BMP signals. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-tail-factor-formation-body-axes.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:11:03 EDT news637927861 In a study published in the journal Cell, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, describes for the first time how odors are encoded in the antennal lobe, the olfactory center in the brain of migratory locusts. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-odors-encoded-brains-migratory-locusts.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news637921789 Could measuring protein clumps in our cells be a new way to find out our risk of getting age-related diseases? Professor Dorothee Dormann and Professor Edward Lemke of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), who are also adjunct directors at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, propose the concept of a "protein aggregation clock" to measure aging and health in a new perspective article published in Nature Cell Biology. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-aging-disease-protein-aggregation-clock.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:29:37 EDT news637846175 Using computer-designed proteins, researchers have now shown they are able to direct human stem cells to form new blood vessels in the lab. This milestone in regenerative medicine offers new hope for repairing damaged hearts, kidneys, and other organs. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-proteins-stem-cells-blood-vessels.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:18:30 EDT news637845506 Disease-causing microbes have evolved sophisticated strategies for invading the body, flourishing in often hostile environments and evading immune defenses. In a new study, Professor Cheryl Nickerson, her Arizona State University colleagues and collaborators at the University of Cincinnati and NASA Johnson Space Center delve into the physical forces guiding this behavior in a multidrug-resistant strain of salmonella, a bacterial pathogen. Their insights may accelerate the design of new therapies to address life-threatening bacterial infections, such as sepsis. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-deadly-strain-salmonella-fine-tunes.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:12:05 EDT news637841521 Research at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) and at the University of Cologne, published in Cell Reports, reveals that germline reproductive signals impact the ability of somatic tissues to induce the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt). https://phys.org/news/2024-06-uncovers-link-reproduction-key-mitochondrial.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:26:13 EDT news637838771 Filamentous cyanobacteria buckle at a certain length when they encounter an obstacle. This was discovered by the research group of Stefan Karpitschka, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and professor at the University of Konstanz. The results, appearing in eLife, provide an important basis for the use of cyanobacteria in modern biotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-bacteria-buckling-propulsion-based-adhesion.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 09:06:03 EDT news637833962 The life strategies of a multitude of soil faunal taxa can strongly affect the formation of labile and stabilized organic matter in soil, with potential consequences for how soils are managed as carbon sinks, nutrient stores, or providers of food. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-soil-fauna-potential-fundamentally-carbon.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:26:32 EDT news637831592 Scientists from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), together with colleagues from the University of Montpellier (France) and the University of Oldenburg (Germany), have tested how a fever could affect the development of antimicrobial resistance. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-weapon-antibiotic-resistance-temperature.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:29:04 EDT news637586942 Bacteriophages, viruses that attack and destroy bacteria, are everywhere in the natural world where they play a vital role in regulating microbe populations in ways that are not yet well understood. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-reveals-pathogens-repurpose-phage-elements.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news637489261 Some species of tardigrades are highly and unusually resilient to various extreme conditions fatal to most other forms of life. The genetic basis for these exceptional abilities remains elusive. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-permanent-gene-tardigrades-amazing-resilience.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news637488601 In the deep-sea environment of the East Pacific Rise, where sunlight does not penetrate and the surroundings are known for their extreme temperatures, skull-crushing pressures, and toxic compounds, lives Riftia pachyptila, a giant hydrothermal vent tubeworm. Growing up to 6 feet tall with a deep-red plume, Riftia does not have a digestive system but thrives off its symbiotic relationship with bacteria that live deep within its body. These billions of bacteria fix carbon dioxide to sugars to sustain themselves and the tubeworm. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-giant-deep-sea-vent-tubeworm.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 13 Jun 2024 11:50:05 EDT news637498202 Some bacteria, it turns out, have proteins much like ours that organize the DNA in their cells. They just do it a bit differently. This is revealed by new research from biochemists at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Biology. The discovery helps us better understand how bacteria organize their DNA and provides new insights into the evolution of these kinds of proteins. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-bacteria-dna-bit-differently.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 13 Jun 2024 10:24:39 EDT news637493076 "Make sure you finish your antibiotics course, even if you start feeling better' is a medical mantra many hear but ignore," says Cesar de la Fuente of the University of Pennsylvania. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-antibiotic-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:37:04 EDT news637411021 A Dartmouth study conducted on fruit flies reports the first evidence in any organism that oocytes—the cells that become eggs—regularly rejuvenate the critical protein linkages that bind chromosomes together. The findings are a potentially important step toward helping women reduce their risk of pregnancy complications as they age, researchers report in the journal Current Biology. The paper is titled "Chromatin-associated cohesin turns over extensively and forms new cohesive linkages in Drosophila oocytes during meiotic prophase." https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fruit-fly-reproductive-cells-renew.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news637406689 According to a study published in Nature Microbiology on June 6, researchers led by Prof. Xu Daichao from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered the molecular link between glucose sensing and non-classical pyroptosis. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-reveal-molecular-link-glucose.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 12 Jun 2024 09:44:03 EDT news637404242 The microbiome, the microorganisms that populate our intestines and aid in digestion, weighs around one and a half kilograms. It primarily consists of bacteria and provides protective effects against pathogens entering our digestive system through food, for example. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-members-microbiome-specifically-salmonella-infections.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 11 Jun 2024 12:14:04 EDT news637326841 An international scientific team has redefined our understanding of archaea, a microbial ancestor to humans from two billion years ago, by showing how they use hydrogen gas. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-secrets-life-energy.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news637313641 Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have changed the sensitivity of bacterial systems for controlling gene activity to red light and reprogrammed their molecular response to the light stimulus. The results, published in Nature Communications, open up exciting possibilities in the biotechnological application of bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-reprogram-bacterial-gene-red.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 11 Jun 2024 09:52:49 EDT news637318367 Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä have developed an imaging device for schools and research centers to study microbes. The 3D-printed device "NIRis" enables schools to observe and study natural phenomena. Researchers will gain useful and new knowledge about the light-activated bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-imaging-device-combines-microbial.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 10 Jun 2024 12:59:44 EDT news637243179 A new study identifies microbes that potentially play important roles in breaking down harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals—also known as forever chemicals—and points to functional genes that may be involved in biologically transforming these compounds. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-potential-microbes-genes-impact-chemicals.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 10 Jun 2024 12:41:04 EDT news637242061 Bodybuilders and cellular mechanisms agree generating protein is a heavy lift. To complete the task, cells rely on complexes called spliceosomes. These molecular machines snip extra bits out of our genes' RNA copies and piece together precise instructions for protein-building. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-spliceosomes-technique-tracks-proteins-involved.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 10 Jun 2024 10:33:42 EDT news637234419