Binghamton University biologist named Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology

Binghamton University, State University of New York researcher Karin Sauer is among 65 scientists elected as Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology this year. Fellows are elected by their peers based on their scientific achievements and original contributions to the field of microbiology.

Study Details How a Common Bacterium Resists New Antibiotic

Cedars-Sinai investigators have detailed a new way that bacteria use iron to cooperate and resist antibiotic treatment. The study, led by the Cedars-Sinai departments of Biomedical Sciences and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Microbiology and is the first to show this type of antibiotic cross-protection.

Protect Yourself Against Salmonella

David Winter, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, says proper hygiene is key to fighting against salmonella. What You Need to Know: Salmonella can cause severe diarrhea. Get a diagnosis first before treating salmonella. Salmonella symptoms include fever and…

Specific gut bacteria increase risk of severe malaria

Researchers have identified multiple species of bacteria that, when present in the gut, are linked to an increased risk of developing severe malaria in humans and mice. Their findings could lead to the development of new approaches targeting gut bacteria to prevent severe malaria and associated deaths.

Race-based variations in gut bacteria emerge by 3 months of age

Variations in the gut microbiome are linked to the incidence and mortality of diseases. A new study highlights a critical development window during which these differences emerge. The findings are based on analysis of data from 2,756 gut microbiome samples from 729 U.S. children between birth and 12 years of age.

Common Wristbands ‘Hotbed’ for Harmful Bacteria Including E. Coli, Staphylococcus

Routinely cleaning wristbands is generally ignored. New research finds 95 percent of wristbands tested were contaminated. Rubber and plastic wristbands had higher bacterial counts, while gold and silver, had little to no bacteria. Bacteria found were common skin residents of the genera Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas, and intestinal organisms of the genera Escherichia, specifically E. coli. Staphylococcus was prevalent on 85 percent of the wristbands; researchers found Pseudomonas on 30 percent of the wristbands; and they found E. coli bacteria on 60 percent of the wristbands, which most commonly begins infection through fecal-oral transmission.

A Single Gene and a Unique Layer of Regulation Opens the Door for Novel Plant-Fungi Interactions

Plants have a complex layer of regulation that allows beneficial fungi to colonize their roots while protecting them from harmful ones such as pathogens. Researchers recently identified the underlying plant signaling processes within this layer of regulation that permits a specific beneficial bacteria species to colonize the roots of switchgrass.

Differences in alcohol metabolism play a role in the severity of alcohol hangovers

Hangovers are common among people who drink alcohol. Previous research showing that a hangover’s combination of both mental and physical misery can occur after a single episode of alcohol consumption also revealed that a rapid breakdown of alcohol into acetaldehyde is associated with less severe hangovers. Findings from an investigation of the metabolic influence of oral microbiota on hangover severity will be shared at the 46th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Bellevue, Washington.

Brain-Belly Connection: Gut Health May Influence Likelihood of Developing Alzheimer’s

UNLV study pinpoints 10 bacterial groups associated with Alzheimer’s disease, provides new insights into the relationship between gut makeup and dementia.

A Simple Antibacterial Treatment Solves a Severe Skin Problem Caused by Radiation Therapy

Acute radiation dermatitis (ARD)—characterized by red, sore, itchy or peeling skin—affects up to 95% of people undergoing radiation treatment for cancer. Severe cases can cause significant swelling and painful skin ulcers that can severely impair quality of life, yet little is known about why this condition occurs and no standardized treatments for preventing severe ARD have been widely adapted.

Deep Learning-Drives Insights into Protein-Protein Interactions

Protein-protein interactions are essential for life. Researchers used DeepMind’s AlphaFold 2 to develop a deep learning approach for predicting and modeling multi-protein interactions. The AF2Complex approach generates much more accurate structural models than previous methods for modeling a protein complex. As a proof of concept, the researchers used AF2Complex to virtually screen key proteins in E. coli, discovering unexpected protein-protein interactions.

Eye-opening Origin Story: Scientists Trace Key Innovation in Our Camera-like Vision to Bacteria

Scientists have traced the origin of a unique protein key to vertebrate’s camera-like vision back 500 million years. Their analysis of more than 900 genomes across the tree of life revealed that the protein came through horizontal gene transfer from foreign bacterial genes.

UNLV Study Sheds Light on Ancient Microbial Dark Matter

Omnitrophota are nano-sized bacteria first discovered 25 years ago. Though common in many environments around the world, until now they’ve been poorly understood. An international research team produced the first large-scale analysis of Omnitrophota genomes, uncovering new details about their biology and behavior. The team’s findings are reported in the March 16 issue of the journal Nature Microbiology.

Chatterboxes: FSU researcher develops new model that shows how bacteria communicate

In new research published by Biophysical Reports, researchers from Florida State University and Cleveland State University lay out a mathematical model that explains how bacteria communicate within a larger ecosystem. By understanding how this process works, researchers can predict what actions might elicit certain environmental responses from a bacterial community.

Beyond the average cell

Models based on an average cell are useful, but they may not accurately describe how individual cells really work. New possibilities opened up with the advent of single-cell live imaging technologies. Now it is possible to peer into the lives of individual cells. In a new paper in PLOS Genetics, a team of biologists and physicists from Washington University in St. Louis and Purdue University used actual single-cell data to create an updated framework for understanding the relationship between cell growth, DNA replication and division in a bacterial system.

Microbial miners could help humans colonize the moon and Mars

The biochemical process by which cyanobacteria acquire nutrients from rocks in Chile’s Atacama Desert has inspired engineers at the University of California, Irvine to think of new ways microbes might help humans build colonies on the moon and Mars.

Research takes on a massive problem: Chronic infection linked to medical devices

Infections related to implanted medical devices are shockingly common and a research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York is working to address the problem.

Dietary supplementation may improve antibiotic-induced GVHD following stem cell transplants

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a specific gut bacterium involved in the progression of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after antibiotic treatment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and discovered that nutritional supplementation can prevent antibiotic-induced GVHD in preclinical models, according to a study published today in Cell.

Chula Launches a Bioproduct “Microbes to Clean Up Oil Spill in the Ocean”

Chula Faculty of Science has developed bioproducts to clean up oil spills in the ocean from their research on oil-eating microbes while getting ready to expand to industrial-scale production for ecological sustainability.

Scientists Unveil New System for Naming Majority of the World’s Microorganisms

In an article published Sept. 19 in the journal Nature Microbiology, a team of scientists present a new system, the SeqCode, and a corresponding registration portal that could help microbiologists effectively categorize and communicate about the massive number of identified yet uncultivated single-celled microorganisms known as prokaryotes.