Newsflash:

Some microorganisms undergo a genetic change when they land on a solid surface. New research shows that these microbes cope with solid surfaces by standing upright, projecting tiny legs, and walking. The result are microbes that turn into what researchers call biofilms. A biofilm is much harder to eradicate than a simple microbe. Rather than just swim along, when the potentially deadly Pseudomonas aeruginosareaches a solid surface, it uses appendages called pili to stand upright and walk. This new posture is ideal for exploring surfaces, and makes it easier for them to detach and spread, enlarging the biofilm. P. aeruginosa biofilm infections are the leading killer in people with cystic fibrosis, and are incredibly resistant to antibiotics. By understanding how they move and spread, we have a better chance of stopping them, and other biofilm related problems, too. Research published in Science (Via io9.).

Bacteria are able to extend psuedo-legs and walk upright, creating deadly biofilms as they go

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Microbe news

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Self-organization, layered structure, and aggregation enhance persistence of a synthetic biofilm consortium.

Self-organization, layered structure, and aggregation enhance persistence of a synthetic biofilm consortium.: PLoS One. 2011;6(2):e16791 Authors: Brenner K, Arnold FH Microbial consortia constitute a majority of the earth's biomass, but little is known about how these cooperating communities persist despite competition among community members. Theory suggests that non-random spatial structures contribute to the persistence of mixed communities;...
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Prokaryotic gene clusters: a rich toolbox for synthetic biology.

Biotechnol J. 2010 Dec;5(12):1277-96 Authors: Fischbach M, Voigt CA Bacteria construct elaborate nanostructures, obtain nutrients and energy from diverse sources, synthesize complex molecules, and implement signal processing to react to their environment. These complex phenotypes require the coordinated action of multiple genes, which are often encoded in a contiguous region of the genome, referred to as a gene cluster. Gene clusters sometimes contain all of the genes necessary and sufficient for a particular function. As an evolutionary mechanism, gene clusters facilitate the horizontal transfer...
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Synthetic multicellular cell-to-cell communication in inkjet printed bacterial cell systems.

Biomaterials. 2011 Apr;32(10):2500-7 Authors: Choi WS, Ha D, Park S, Kim T We utilized a commercially available materials printer to investigate synthetic multicellular cell-to-cell communication because inkjet printing technology makes it easy to print spatiotemporal patterns of soluble biomolecules and live cells. Since cells are genetically programmed to communicate with one another via synthetic biology, cell signaling molecules secreted by one cell microcolony can induce two neighboring cell microcolonies to respond by expressing or stopping the expression of fluorescent protein genes. In...
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Quest for designer bacteria uncovers a 'Spy'

Bacteria are widely used to manufacture proteins used in medicine and industry, but the bugs often bungle the job. Many proteins fall apart and get cut up inside the bacteria before they can be harvested. Others collapse into useless tangles instead of folding properly, as they must in order to function normally. A research team led by James Bardwell, who is a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and of biological chemistry, as well as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, at the University of Michigan, developed a way to coerce bacteria into making large quantities...
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Genomic comparison of ocean microbes reveals East-West divide in populations

Genomic comparison of ocean microbes reveals East-West divide in populations:  Much as an anthropologist can study populations of people to learn about their physical attributes, their environs and social structures, some marine microbiologists read the genome of microbes to glean information about the microbes themselves, their environments and lifestyles. Using a relatively new methodology called comparative population genomics, these scientists compare...
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In an early branching metazoan, bacterial colonization of the embryo is controlled by maternal antimicrobial peptides.

In an early branching metazoan, bacterial colonization of the embryo is controlled by maternal antimicrobial peptides.: "Publication Date: 2010 Oct 4 PMID: 20921390
Authors: Fraune, S. - Augustin, R. - Anton-Erxleben, F. - Wittlieb, J. - Gelhaus, C. - Klimovich, V. B. - Samoilovich, M. P. - Bosch, T. C.
Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Early embryos of many organisms develop outside the mother and are immediately confronted with myriads of potential...
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Bacterial cell wall engineering

A team of Yale University scientists has engineered the cell wall of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, tricking it into incorporating foreign small molecules and embedding them within the cell wall. The finding, described online in the journal ACS Chemical Biology this week, represents the first time scientists have engineered the cell wall of a pathogenic "Gram-positive" bacteria—organisms responsible not only for Staph infections but also pneumonia, strep throat and many others. The discovery could pave the way for new methods of combating the bacteria responsible for many...
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Genome sequence of the solvent-producing bacterium Clostridium carboxidivorans strain P7T.

Genome sequence of the solvent-producing bacterium Clostridium carboxidivorans strain P7T.: "Publication Date: 2010 Oct PMID: 20729368
Authors: Paul, D. - Austin, F. W. - Arick, T. - Bridges, S. M. - Burgess, S. C. - Dandass, Y. S. - Lawrence, M. L.
Journal: J Bacteriol

Clostridium carboxidivorans strain P7(T) is a strictly anaerobic acetogenic bacterium that produces acetate, ethanol, butanol, and butyrate. The C. carboxidivorans genome contains all...
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The unique binding mode of cellulosomal CBM4 from Clostridium thermocellum cellobiohydrolase A.

The unique binding mode of cellulosomal CBM4 from Clostridium thermocellum cellobiohydrolase A.: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 17 PMID: 20654622
Authors: Alahuhta, M. - Xu, Q. - Bomble, Y. J. - Brunecky, R. - Adney, W. S. - Ding, S. Y. - Himmel, M. E. - Lunin, V. V.
Journal: J Mol Biol

The crystal structure of the carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) 4 Ig fused domain from the cellulosomal cellulase cellobiohydrolase A (CbhA) of Clostridium thermocellum...
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Imaging mass spectrometry of intraspecies metabolic exchange revealed the cannibalistic factors of Bacillus subtilis.

Imaging mass spectrometry of intraspecies metabolic exchange revealed the cannibalistic factors of Bacillus subtilis.: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 14 PMID: 20805502
Authors: Liu, W. T. - Yang, Y. L. - Xu, Y. - Lamsa, A. - Haste, N. M. - Yang, J. Y. - Ng, J. - Gonzalez, D. - Ellermeier, C. D. - Straight, P. D. - Pevzner, P. A. - Pogliano, J. - Nizet, V. - Pogliano, K. - Dorrestein, P. C.
Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

During bacterial cannibalism,...
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Biogenic Insecticides

Biogenic Insecticides Decoded ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2010) — In the latest issue of Science, researchers from the University of Freiburg report on their discovery of a new mode of action of insecticidal toxins from Photorhabdus luminescens, a bacterium which lives in a symbiotic relationship with nematodes.
Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) infected with Photorhabdus luminescens. (A) Larvae of the greater wax moth after infection with P. luminescens, left, not infected; middle, after 24 hours; right, after 48 hours. (B) Bioluminescence of P. luminescens. After...
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Microbial diversity in pitcher plants

Vast Microbial Diversity of Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Uncovered enlarge
Sarracenia alata flowers. (Credit: Photo by Noah Elhardt / Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) From ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2010) — The microbial ecosystem inside the carnivorous pitcher plant is vastly more diverse than previously thought, according to research published in the March 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.   Researchers from Louisiana State University used genomic fingerprinting...
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