All Microbial Genetics articles – Page 2
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NewsScientists reveal anti-bacterial role of plant metabolite
A study shows that a plant metabolite, erucamide, is able to target and disrupt a protein assembly of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, thus inhibiting their virulence. Understanding the metabolite’s molecular mechanisms could protect crops from infection.
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NewsStudy uncovers how low-carb diet drives colorectal cancer development
A new study suggests that a low-carbohydrate diet promotes the growth of a strain of E. coli that produces DNA-damaging colibactin, which drives genetic mutations and predisposes tumour development.
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NewsA new test will make it possible to detect the parasite responsible for trichomoniasis more quickly and inexpensively
A sensitive, cheap and rapid test is developed to detect the parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis, which causes one of the world’s most common sexually transmitted infections, using an innovative approach that targets highly specific molecules with short nucleic acid sequences.
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NewsA blueprint for making cereal crops more resistant to fungal disease
Researchers have uncovered the structural interactions between a type of barley immune receptor that helps the crop to fight against devastating fungal disease, powdery mildew and other plant pathogens.
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NewsNew insights into how specific gut cells respond to bacterial toxins
Researchers have characterized a specific gut cell type, BEST4/CA7+ cells, with the ability to interact with immune cytokine interferon-γ (IFNγ), and its regulation in cellular electrolyte and water balance, in response to bacterial toxins.
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NewsCould microRNAs help us understand why different birds react differently to being infected with bird flu?
Since microRNA was found to have a role in cell protein production, a connection between microRNA and birds infected with bird flu has been found in ruddy turnstones, which has significance with respect to the spread of bird flu due to their long distance flights.
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NewsScientists unveil novel anti-CRISPR protein mechanism
Apart from their counter-defensive function, anti-CRISPR proteins hold great promise for enabling more precise control over CRISPR technologies. Researchers have now further elucidated the function of an important yet so far uncharacterized anti-CRISPR protein.
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NewsNew study sheds light on the causes of fevers of unknown origin in sub-Saharan Africa
By conducting a retrospective observational study, the causes of fevers of unknown origin (FUO) in sub-Saharan Africa were investigated using conventional diagnostic methods, highlighting the appropriate needs of point-of-care testing in the regions.
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NewsUncovering two rare infectious diseases which might be responsible for COVID-19
A study has adopted a more-advanced AI technique that revealed two rare infectious diseases might be involved in causing the emergence of COVID-19. The machine learning technique is also important to be used for other biomarker studies.
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NewsNew study uncovers key differences in allosteric regulation of cAMP receptor proteins in bacteria
A new study provides key insights into how bacterial cAMP receptor proteins (CRPs) respond differently to the ubiquitous signaling molecule, cyclic AMP (cAMP), challenging the assumption that structural similarity predicts functional behavior in allosteric proteins.
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NewsScientists map essential genome of malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi
Comprehensive genetic mapping of Plasmodium knowlesi, a zoonotic parasite that causes malaria, has revealed the genes required for malaria infection of the blood, and those driving drug resistance.
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NewsResearchers in Brazil discover a gene that may afford protection against COVID-19
During the pandemic, health worker Maria Tereza Malheiros Sapienza’s curiosity was aroused by her immunity to SARS-CoV-2, even though her husband was infected twice. A new study reveals that an overexpression of IFIT3 protein was responsible.
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NewsThe secret ‘sex lives’ of bacteria: Study challenges old ideas about how species form
Researchers discovered that microbial species form and maintain their distinct identities through unique way of genetic material exchange, especially via homologous recombination, apart from the common asexual reproductive method.
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NewsLooking to Kenya’s Lake Victoria for what may come for Lake Erie
Scientists conducted a genetic survey on cyanobacteria in the Winam Gulf of Kenya’s Lake Victoria, which serves as a model for the cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanHABs) in Lake Erie under the warming climate.
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NewsResearch using non-toxic bacteria to fight high-mortality cancers prepares for clinical trials
A promising research study in treating high mortality late-stage cancers with a non-toxic bacterial therapy - BacID - has proven to be safe and more targeted. The newly developed treatment would undergo clinical trials with cancer patients in 2027.
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NewsBacterial toxin offers hope to tackle soybean nematode pest
A new study reveals how genetically equipping soybean plants with bacterial toxin Cry14 could revolutionize the fight against the microscopic soybean cyst nematode. This approach has been implemented successfully to prevent SCN from feeding on soybean roots.
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NewsHow fungi strengthen their defenses - and how we could break through them
A research team has discovered that the enzyme Mod5 in the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus plays an important role in the modification of fungal tRNA and helps confer temporary antifungal resistance.
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NewsBacterial gene deployed in new trees to combat devastating citrus greening disease
Scientists are testing a new type of citrus tree, deploying a bacterial gene that can fight off the tiny insects responsible for citrus greening.
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NewsResearchers have uncovered how foreign DNA can evade bacterial defense systems and neutralize them
A new study reveals how bacterial defense mechanisms can be neutralized, enabling the efficient transfer of genetic material between bacteria.
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NewsScientists discover and engineer ChCas12b for precise genome editing
Researchers have developed a highly specific Cas12b nuclease—ChCas12b-D496A, capable of distinguishing single-base mutations. This expands the targeting range of gene editing and demonstrates broad prospects for gene therapy applications.