Latest Bacteria Stories
Meningitis Angels is Accepting Photos through December 14 for a Chance to Win an iPad HOUSTON, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Meningitis Angels announced today the "I Took the Shot" contest encouraging children between the ages of 10 and 18 to protect themselves against bacterial meningitis. By sending a photo of themselves getting vaccinated against this deadly disease, contestants are eligible to win an iPad, digital camera or $100 gift card. "With the national attention...
Bacteria that cause the tick-borne disease anaplasmosis in humans create their own food supply by hijacking a process in host cells that normally should help kill the pathogenic bugs, scientists have found. This bacterium, Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Ap), secretes a protein that can start this process. The protein binds with another protein produced by white blood cells, and that connection creates compartments that siphon host-cell nutrients to feed the bacteria, enabling their growth...
U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have identified sources of Escherichia coli bacteria that could help restore the reputation of local livestock. Studies by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Mark Ibekwe suggest that in some parts of California, pathogens in local waterways are more often carried there via runoff from urban areas, not from animal production facilities. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and...
University of Melbourne Microscopic animals held algae captive and stole their genes for energy production, thereby evolving into a new and more powerful species many millions of years ago reveals a new study published today in the journal Nature. The results reveal a 'missing link' in evolution because the tiny animal thieves (protozoa) couldn't completely hide all evidence of the captive algae, and have been effectively frozen in time and caught in the act by genetic sequencing....
Best-Selling Author Paul Alexander Examines Deadly Consequences Of Washington's Fight Over Hand Soap NEW YORK, Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Germs have wiped out whole civilizations and remain a serious public health threat even today. Now, one of the most common household items used to fight against germs is front and center in a debate that is based on politics, not science. Best-selling author Paul Alexander uncovers the motives behind the push to ban antibacterial...
DENVER, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A Jefferson Post article has explained just what it was that caused the wastewater treatment system in West Jefferson to malfunction in recent weeks. The plant technicians in this small North Carolina town were initially puzzled when their attempts to identify a trigger were left at a dead end. Fortunately, outside sources were able to identify an influx of harmful bacteria was to blame. Roto-Rooter Denver, a professional plumbing...
Rice University Like a homeowner prepping for a hurricane, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis uses a long checklist to prepare for survival in hard times. In a new study, scientists at Rice University and the University of Houston uncovered an elaborate mechanism that allows B. subtilis to begin preparing for survival, even as it delays the ultimate decision of whether to “hunker down” and withdraw into a hardened spore. The new study by computational biologists at Rice and...
University of Alberta A student group from the University of Alberta won first place at an international competition after discovering a way to turn waste paper into valuable chemicals. Nine students from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science won the entrepreneurship category of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The students developed plans for a startup biotech company called Upcycled...
Scientists have engineered bacteria that are capable of sacrificing themselves for the good of the bacterial population. These altruistically inclined bacteria, which are described online in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, can be used to demonstrate the conditions where programmed cell death becomes a distinct advantage for the survival of the bacterial population. "We have used a synthetic biology approach to explicitly measure and test the adaptive advantage of programmed...
TURKU, Finland, November 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Abacus Diagnostica [http://www.abacusdiagnostica.com ] Ltd announced that it has received the CE mark for the GenomEra [http://www.abacusdiagnostica.com/genomera.html ](TM) C. difficile assay for the detection of toxin-producing Clostridium difficile directly from stool samples. C. difficile [http://www.abacusdiagnostica.com/clostridium.html ] is the leading cause of infectious nosocomial diarrhea in Europe and North America....
Latest Bacteria Reference Libraries
Yersinia enterocolitica is a species of gram-negative coccobacillus-shaped bacterium, belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. Infection from Yersinia enterocolitica causes the zoonotic disease yersiniosis. Most infected animals recover from the disease and become asymptomatic carriers. Acute infections lead to mild self-limiting entero-colitis or terminal ileitis in humans. Symptoms include watery or bloody diarrhea and fever. After oral uptake it replicates in the terminal ileum and...
Vibrio vulnificus is a species of Gram-negative, motile, curved, rod-shaped bacteria of the Vibrio Genus. Hollis et al. first reported it in 1976. It was given the name Beneckea vulnifica by Reichelt et al. in 1976 and in 1979 Vibrio vulnificus by Farmer. V. vulnificus is related to V. cholerae and is present in marine environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas. It causes an infection often incurred after eating seafood, especially raw or undercooked oysters. It can...
Streptococcus mutans is a Gram-positive cocci, Facultative anaerobic bacterium commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to tooth decay. J Kilian Clarke first described the microbe in 1924. The first colonizers of the tooth surface are mainly Neisseria spp. and streptococci, including S. mutans. The pioneer species changes the local environmental conditions through growth and metabolism thus allowing more fastidious organisms to further colonize after them,...
Staphylococcus epidermidis is one of thirty-three known species belonging to the genus Staphylococcus. It is part of our skin flora and can also be found in the mucous membranes and in animals. It is the most common species found in laboratory test due to contamination. It is not usually pathogenic; however, patients with a compromised immune system often risk infection. Infections can be both nosocomial and community acquired and are more of a threat to hospital patients. Hospitals carry...
Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobic gram-positive coccus, and is the most common cause of staph infections. It is commonly part of the skin flora found in the nose and on skin. Around 20% of the human population is long-term carriers. It gets its golden color due to its carotenoid pigment staphyloxanthin. The pigment acts as a virulence factor with an antioxidant action that allows the microbe to evade death by reactive oxygen species used by the host immune system. Staphylococci...
