Latest Proteobacteria Stories
Campylobacters are small Gram-negative spiral rods. Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni), a foodborne organism contracted from untreated water, milk and meat, especially chicken, is one of the most important causes of bacterial diarrhea worldwide. However, its mode of pathogenesis is not clear.A research article to be published on December 28, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Christopher J Hawkey from Nottingham University Hospital of...
Bacteria that cause stomach ulcers and cancer could also be giving us bad breath, according to research published in the December issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology. For the first time, scientists have found Helicobacter pylori living in the mouths of people who are not showing signs of stomach disease.The mouth is home to over 600 different species of bacteria, some of which can cause disease. Helicobacter pylori has recently been shown to cause stomach ulcers and is also...
Brown University physicists have completed the most detailed study of the swimming patterns of a microbe, showing for the first time how its movement is affected by drag and a phenomenon called Brownian motion. The findings appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Imagine yourself swimming in a pool: It's the movement of your arms and legs, not the viscosity of the water, that mostly dictates the speed and direction that you swim.For tiny organisms, the...
U.S. medical scientists say they've determined chronic inflammation can cause stomach cancer -- the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. The multi-center research team led by Columbia University Medical Center said it discovered, for the first time, that elevated levels of a single pro-inflammatory cytokine, an immune system protein called IL-1 Beta, can start the progression towards stomach cancer. The scientists said they hope their finding will lead to development of ways...
Like something from a horror movie, the swarm of bacteria ripples purposefully toward their prey, devours it and moves on.Researchers at the University of Iowa are studying this behavior in Myxococcus xanthus (M. xanthus), a bacterium commonly found in soil, which preys on other bacteria.Despite its deadly role in the bacterial world, M. xanthus is harmless to humans and might one day be used beneficially to destroy harmful bacteria on surfaces or in human infections, said John Kirby, Ph.D.,...
Trius Therapeutics, a developer of antibacterial drugs, has received a $28 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a component of the National Institutes of Health, for the development of novel antibiotics directed against multiple Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Under the five-year contract, Trius will develop novel drugs targeting bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, with the aim of optimizing these drugs for activity against relevant...
By Chris Togneri U.S. House members on Tuesday admonished Veterans Affairs officials from Pittsburgh for ordering the destruction of thousands of Legionella samples even as a researcher was attempting to save the "irreplaceable" collection. The destroyed samples represented nearly 30 years of medical research by Dr. Victor Yu, former chief of the VA's Infectious Disease Section, and Dr. Janet Stout, former director of the Special Pathogens Laboratory in Oakland and one of the nation's...
By Chris Togneri A U.S. House subcommittee on Monday blamed a high-ranking Veterans Affairs official in Pittsburgh for ordering the destruction of a collection of Legionella samples representing nearly 30 years of medical research. Dr. Mona Melhem, the associate chief of staff for clinical services at the VA's Pittsburgh Health Service, has been called to Washington to answer questions today in a congressional hearing over her alleged role in the samples' destruction. Melhem did not return...
By HARPER, Rebecca Meningitis made Aaron Sklenars so ill doctors put him into an induced coma for four days, his mother tells Rebecca Harper . -------------------- WARNINGS Early meningitis or septicaemia symptoms: fever headache photophobia (unable to look at light) nausea vomiting rash muscle pain with cold hands and feet -------------------- Aaron Sklenars left school after fourth period two Wednesdays ago. He remembers being drowsy and vomiting - and nothing else until he woke...
U.S. researchers said on Thursday they have developed an antibiotic that works by blocking the communication signals of serious stomach bugs like salmonella, keeping them from releasing toxins that make people sick. Dr. Vanessa Sperandio of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said the sensors in bacteria are waiting for the right signal to initiate the expression of virulent genes.Sperandio and colleagues found a compound named LED209, that disarms the bacteria instead killing...
Latest Proteobacteria Reference Libraries
Salmonella enterica is a subspecies of Salmonella enterica, the rod shaped, flagellated, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium. It is a member of the genus Salmonella and many of the pathogenic serovars of the S. enterica species are in this subspecies. Serovars can be designated fully or in a shortened form. The genus, Salmonella, is on the short form lists which are followed by the capitalized and non-italicized serovar. Each serovar can have many strains as well, which allows for a rapid...
Neisseria meningitidis is a heterotrophic gram-negative diplococcal bacterium best known for its role in meningitis and other forms of meningococcal disease such as meningococcemia. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality during childhood in industrialized countries and is responsible for epidemics in Africa and in Asia. In the US there are approximately 2500 to 3500 cases of N. meningitides infections. Children under 5 are at a higher risk as well as people in the sub-Saharan...
Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium that can inhabit various areas of the stomach, particularly the antrum. It causes low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is linked to gastric ulcers and stomach cancer. Out of those infected, 80%, are asymptomatic. It was initially named Campyloacter pyloridis and then renamed C. pylori to correct the Latin grammar error. It was later placed in the genus, Helicobacter. Over 50% of the population has H. pylori in...
Haemophilus influenzae is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium first described in 1892 by Richard Pfeiffer during an influenza pandemic. It is generally aerobic but can grow as a facultative anaerobe. H. influenzae was mistakenly considered to be the cause of influenza until 1933 when the flu virology became apparent. It was the first free-living organism to have its entire genome sequenced. The project was completed and published in 1995. Two major categories were defined: the...
Haemophilus ducreyi is a fastidious gram-negative coccobacillus causing the sexually transmitted disease chancroid, a major cause of genital ulceration in developing countries characterized by painful sores on the genitalia. Early symptoms are dark and light green shears in excrement. Chancroid starts as an erythematous popular lesion that breaks down into a painful bleeding ulcer. It can be cultured on chocolate agar. It is an opportunistic microorganism that infects through the...
