Chilling sub-zero temperatures. Astounding snowfalls. The weather outside is frightful. Yet under the snow and frost, life in soils carries on! Soils Matter, Soil Science Society of America’s science-based blog, provides insights to soils in winter and the organisms that live there.
A team of researchers from France, Sweden, and Denmark have identified a new strain of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague, in DNA extracted from 5,000-year-old human remains. Their analyses, publishing December 6 in the journal Cell, suggest that this strain is the closest ever identified to the genetic origin of plague.
Bacterial spores may be able to halt degradation by outcompeting other microbes
Baltimore, MD--The interactions that take place between the species of microbes living in the gastrointestinal system often have large and unpredicted effects on health, according to new work from a team led by Carnegie's Will Ludington. Their findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The world’s leading soil scientists met at Argonne recently to discuss the importance of what’s under our feet.
Together with colleagues from Sweden and Luxembourg, scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have observed that, during a natural vaginal birth, specific bacteria from the mother's gut are passed on to the baby and stimulate the baby's immune responses. This transmission is impacted in children born by caesarean section.
An undergraduate researcher is identifying bacteria that can potentially help improve gut health by colonizing the gut mucosal layer and stimulating the immune system.
In support of a microbial connection between fiber and heart health, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have identified a particular fatty acid as the mechanism behind certain protective effects of a high-fiber diet in a mouse model.
Researchers with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered that communities of microbes living near tree roots are ten times more diverse than the human microbiome and produce a cornucopia of novel molecules that could be useful as antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs.
A first-of-its-kind study shows that the sea star microbiome is critically important to the progression of a disease that is killing millions of sea stars from Mexico to Alaska—and that an imbalance of microbes might be the culprit.
Vanderbilt researchers, as part of the International Human Vaccines Project, are searching for the key to lasting protection against influenza by examining naturally protecting cells found in bone marrow.
Infants born at home have more diverse bacteria in their guts and feces, which may affect their developing immunity and metabolism, according to a study in Scientific Reports.
Children who are given antibiotics or antacids in their first two years of life are more likely to become obese during their childhood, according to a new study published today in the British Medical Journal, Gut.
Researchers have found a natural way to help plants retain water, using a strain of beneficial bacteria living right in the soil around the plant roots. The goal is to use this microbe on a larger scale to combat droughts and increase crop yields.
Baby formula is designed to mimic human breast milk as closely as possible. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis finds that formula and breast milk nurture the growth of intestinal bacteria capable of producing differing metabolites. The health implications of these differences are unknown.
Could microbes in our guts be sending out the wrong message? Queen’s University researchers have, for the first time, found a specific microbe in the gut that pumps out protein molecules that mimic a human protein, causing the human defence system to turn on its own cells by mistake.
An international team of researchers has shown in mice that a healthy gut microbiome is important for recovery after a heart attack.
Reported October 8, 2018, in Nature Microbiology, a team led by U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute researchers developed a pipeline to generate genomes from single cells of uncultivated fungi. The approach was tested on several uncultivated species representing early diverging fungi.
In a new study, researchers have found that the gut microbiome appears to play a key role in how well the body accepts a transplanted heart. The scientists found a causal relationship between the presence of certain microbes and transplant outcome.
There is a missing link between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson’s disease, speculate scientists at UAB, and armed with a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, they intend to find it.
A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Cancer Cell shows that leukemia undercuts the ability of normal cells to consume glucose, thus leaving more glucose available to feed its own growth.
Novozymes has joined the International Phytobiomes Alliance as a sponsoring partner, both organizations announced today.
Researchers around the world are exploring the gut/brain axis in the quest for knowledge about mood disorders such as depression, neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and chronic conditions such as Crohn’s disease.
Scientists continue to unravel links between body weight and the gut microbiome. Now, researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) report an unexpected finding: mice fed a fatty diet and mannose, a sugar, were protected from weight gain, leaner and more fit—and this effect tracked with changes in the gut microbiome. The study published today in Cell Reports.
If you’re looking into the mouth of a brown bear, one of the world’s top predators, your chances of survival probably aren’t good. But a team of Rutgers and other scientists has discovered a technology that rapidly assesses potentially lifesaving antibiotics by using bacteria in saliva from an East Siberian brown bear. The technology involves placing a bacterium from a wild animal’s mouth – or other complex source of microbes with potential antibiotic properties – in an oil droplet to see if it inhibits harmful bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, according to a study published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A professor at UTHealth in Houston is testing the hypothesis that probiotics can help improve gastrointestinal symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Two Weizmann Institute scientists, Profs. Eran Elinav and Eran Segal, have revealed that our gut microbes' relationship with probiotics may not be as healthy as we think
The latest research and features on ecology and wildlife.
A soil-based bacterium called Streptomyces griseus could become New Jersey’s official state microbe 75 years after Rutgers University–New Brunswick scientists discovered its ability to cure tuberculosis. The 1943 discovery at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station defined Rutgers’ role as a leader in antibiotic research and had a profound impact on global health.
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Science in Japan have discovered how antibodies secreted in the gut promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. Their study, which will be published July 24 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies can alter the expression of bacterial genes, allowing different bacterial species to cooperate with each other and form a community that can protect the body from disease.
The latest research on the environment in the Environmental Science News Source
This week, to better understand this microbiome, scientists will be collecting bacteria from monuments at Gettysburg Battlefield and Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
A mother’s microbiome, the collection of microscopic organisms that live inside us, determines the risk of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders in her offspring, new research from the UVA School of Medicine shows. The research suggests that we may be able to prevent autism just by altering an expectant mother's diet or by giving her custom probiotics.
Kombucha (pronounced kom-BOO-cha) can help restore the body’s natural microbiome and improve overall health, but it’s important to make informed choices about kombucha sources and consumption.
Exposing newborn mice to vaginal microbes from stressed female mice may transfer the effects of stress to the newborns, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. These changes resemble those seen specifically in the male offspring of moms that were stressed during pregnancy.
A new study provides a platform for predicting how microbial gut communities work and represents a first step toward understanding how to manipulate the properties of the gut ecosystem. This could allow scientists to, for example, design a probiotic that persists in the gut or tailor a diet to positively influence human health.
CEO Kenneth L. Davis, MD, and Other Leaders to be Featured Speakers, June 21 to June 30, 2018. Complimentary Heart Health and Skin Cancer Screenings Provided at the Mount Sinai Health Concourse at Aspen Meadows.
Like fingerprints or DNA, a human's microbiome can be used to trace their whereabouts
Twenty laboratory mice are poised to play an important role in preparing humans to go to Mars. A Northwestern University-led study of the microbiome in space is one of five science investigations scheduled to launch Friday, June 29, on board the SpaceX Dragon and head for the International Space Station (ISS).
Las bacterias genéticamente manipuladas se muestran esperanzadoras como nuevo tratamiento contra el estreñimiento, descubrieron los investigadores del Centro para Medicina Personalizada de Mayo Clinic en un estudio realizado en ratones.
Genetically engineered bacteria are showing promise as a new treatment for constipation, researchers at the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine have discovered in a mouse study. The finding is significant in part because there are few approved constipation remedies on the market. The research is published in Cell Host & Microbe.
Results from a new clinical study have confirmed the safety and tolerability of using bacteria-specific viruses known as bacteriophages to eliminate disease-causing bacteria in the gut.
What does flying in a commercial airliner have in common with working at the office or relaxing at home? According to a new study, the answer is the microbiome – the community of bacteria found in homes, offices and aircraft cabins.
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), including researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), have developed a workflow that enables large-scale, genome-wide assays of gene importance across many conditions. The study, “Mutant Phenotypes for Thousands of Bacterial Genes of Unknown Function,” has been published in the journal Nature and is by far the largest functional genomics study of bacteria ever published.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and collaborators have published the first major results from the American Gut Project, a crowdsourced, global citizen science effort. The project, described May 15 in mSystems, is the largest published study to date of the human microbiome — the unique microbial communities that inhabit our bodies.
Scientists have for the first time found evidence that a microbe in the human gut is associated with protection from typhoid fever infection. If the research is borne out, it could offer an exciting new way to reduce these infections.
UCLA Gram negative F. nucleatum-induced host-generated tsRNA inhibits the growth of F. nucleatum (top row) but not Streptococcus mitis (bottom row). A new UCLA-led study provides clear evidence that cellular messengers in saliva may be able to regulate the growth of oral bacteria responsible for diseases, such as periodontitis and meningitis.
Researchers discover how “good” intestinal bacteria can help protect us from inflammation, and how their disruption can increase susceptibility of the liver to more harmful forms of disease. Their study identified two metabolites from the bacteria that modulate inflammation in the host and reduce the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Researchers have discovered microbes living in a toxic volcanic lake that may rank as one of the harshest environments on Earth.
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