Feature Channels: Microbiome

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Significant quantities of microplastic particles are being trapped in riverbed sediments or carried through the air along major river systems, a new study has shown.

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Single Cell Protein (SCP) is an alternative and eco-friendly protein source from microorganisms which can be produced by utilizing agro-industrial wastes. SCP presents multiple applications, including animal feed, human food, packaging and is characterized by a rich nutritional profile.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.

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Berkeley Lab scientists are accelerating and streamlining the process of engineering microbes to produce important compounds with commercial-ready efficiency.

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A new filtration process that aims to extend milk’s shelf life can result in a pasteurization-resistant microbacterium passing into fluid milk if equipment isn’t properly cleaned early, Cornell food scientists have found.

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How microbiota — microbes that live on human surfaces — impact cancer development and therapy has become an expansive area of research.

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An international team of scientists led by microbiologist Alexander Loy from the University of Vienna has discovered a new intestinal microbe that feeds exclusively on taurine and produces the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide.

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It is said that there is waste in haste, but researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University have proven that doing things rapidly does not necessarily mean working ineffectively.

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Information Microbiome research has revolutionized our understanding of microbial communities and their impact on various scientific disciplines, including environmental protection, disease prevention, and water pollution monitoring.

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A research team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests gut microbe communities may be responsible for variation in extracting benefits of broccoli and other brassica vegetables. With a new grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the team plans to identify which microbes maximize the benefits of these vegetables.

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Bees that build microbreweries, ride a miniature merry-go-round and possibly even wear diapers. In biologist Tobin Hammer’s UCI lab, all sorts of unusual projects unfold.

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The EMSL User Meeting: Visualizing Chemical Processes Across the Environment is planned for Oct. 3-5 at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

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Insights could impact approach to managing and preventing condition in children.

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The University of Michigan researchers found some bacteria ship cellular cargo by “surfing” along proteins called ParA/MinD ATPases

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Loss of habitat and human activities such as fishing and shipping pose a grave threat to wildlife but diseases driven by the smallest organisms in the ocean are a less understood side of marine conservation.

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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.

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Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that the virus responsible for chikungunya fever can spread directly from cell to cell—perhaps solving the longstanding mystery of how the virus, now emerging as a major health threat, can manage to escape antibodies circulating in the bloodstream.

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The findings point to possible mechanisms behind intestinal conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and also suggest avenues to develop more effective probiotics.

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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.

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Recordings of media briefings will be posted by 10 a.m. Eastern Time on each day. Watch recorded media briefings at: www.acs.org/ACSFall2023briefings.

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As Labor Day approaches, many people will go tubing and swimming, but do these delightful summertime activities impact streams and rivers? Today, scientists report that recreation can alter the chemical and microbial fingerprint of waterways. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2023.

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Using a novel method to detect microbial activity in biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, after they are wetted, a Penn State-led research team in a new study uncovered clues that will lead to a better understanding of the role microbes play in forming a living skin over many semi-arid ecosystems around the world.

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A brief roundup of news and story ideas from the experts at UCLA Health.

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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.

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In a recent study published in the journal of Genes & Diseases, researchers have discovered a compelling link between a specific gut bacterium and the progression of atherosclerosis, a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke. The culprit is a microbe known as Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (D. desulfuricans), found to be responsible for increasing intestinal permeability and prompting a potent inflammatory response, contributing to the disease's progression.

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The latest headlines from the Food and Water Safety channel on Newswise.

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Intensive production can cause immunological stress in commercial broilers, leading to growth retardation and intestinal damage. In this study, multi-omics analyses reveal that chlorogenic acid (CGA) improves the growth performance, intestinal barrier function and immune function of dexamethasone-treated immunologically-stressed broilers by regulating gut microbiota, gut microbiota metabolites and jejunal proteins.

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Herpes viruses are treacherous: once you are infected, you can never get rid of the virus. This is because herpes viruses lie dormant in certain host cells in the body for a lifetime.

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UNC School of Medicine researchers Angela Wahl, PhD, Balfour Sartor MD, J. Victor Garcia, PhD, and colleagues created a germ-free mouse model to evaluate the role of the microbiome in the infection, replication, and pathogenesis of HIV and the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that can cause mononucleosis and other serious diseases.

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Light affects living organisms in many different ways: for example, plants orient their growth direction towards the sun, while circadian rhythms in humans are controlled by daylight.

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In a new preclinical study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists provide the first evidence that changes in the gut microbiome have significant effects on cocaine use and cravings after withdrawal.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. Recent developments include a novel biomarker that may predict the aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer precursors, insights into the structure and function of a breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene, a new approach to overcoming treatment resistance in ovarian cancer, distinguishing features of young-onset rectal cancer, a biomarker and potential target for metastatic lung cancer, machine learning models to better predict outcomes of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and a promising therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory MCL.

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Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center research findings and other news. Reporting on wildfire smoke? Fred Hutch clinicians and researchers are available to their expertise. Dr. Trang VoPham is an epidemiologist focusing on environmental exposures and risk, follow her on social media.

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Individual features in a community, like microbes or types of chemicals, affect the overall community’s development and help determine the similarity of different communities over time and space. Scientists developed a novel ecological metric, called βNTIfeat, that helps to investigate the roles of different features in community development. The resulting information can inform models of how ecosystems respond to disturbances such as climate change.

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UC San Diego scientists debut Greengenes2, a massive reference database that could be used to reconcile years of microbiome studies.

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Kenyan teenage girls who were given menstrual cups were less likely to acquire certain kinds of vaginal infections and were more likely to have a healthy vaginal microbiome, found a study by University of Illinois Chicago researchers.

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In a multi-generation experiment, researchers from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) found microbes helped plants cope with drought, but not in response to plants’ cries for help. Instead, the environment itself selected for drought-tolerant microbes. And while those hardy microbes were doing their thing, they just happened to make plants more drought-tolerant, too.

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Animals and humans coexist with a vast array of microorganisms known as the microbiome, forming an intricate relationship that can range from mutually beneficial to pathogenic.