�山ǿ�� News - bacteria

How bacteria create a piggy bank for the lean times

webfull — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 18:47:23 +0000

Bacteria can store extra resources for the lean times. It’s a bit like keeping a piggy bank or carrying a backup battery pack. One important reserve is known as cyanophycin granules, which were first noticed by an Italian scientist about 150 years ago. He saw big, dark splotches in the cells of the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) he was studying without understanding either what they were or their purpose.

Published: 14 October 2021

Rules of the road: the navigational ‘strategies’ of bacteria in motion

webfull — Tue, 11 May 2021 18:05:40 +0000

Bacteria that move around live on the edge. All the time. Their success, be it in finding nutrients, fending off predators or multiplying depends on how efficiently they navigate through their confining microscopic habitats. Whether these habitats are in animal or plant tissues, in waste, or in other materials.

Published: 11 May 2021

"Good bacteria" in breast milk changes over time

webfull — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 14:30:13 +0000

The cocktail of beneficial bacteria passed from mother to infant through breast milk changes significantly over time and could act like a daily booster shot for infant immunity and metabolism.

Published: 23 February 2021

Specialized cellular compartments discovered in bacteria

webfull — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 13:36:23 +0000

Researchers at �山ǿ�� have discovered bacterial organelles involved in gene expression, suggesting that bacteria may not be as simple as once thought. This finding could offer new targets for the development of new antibiotics.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show that E. coli uses similar strategies to regulate gene transcription as other more complex cell types.

Published: 20 July 2020

Bacteriophages may play a role in childhood stunting… and be able to help treat it

webfull — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 16:39:23 +0000

New research spearheaded by �山ǿ�� has discovered that bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) found in the intestinal tracts of children may play a role in childhood stunting, a significant impediment to growth that affects 22% of children under the age of five around the world.

Published: 12 February 2020

Gare à la transmission de maladies par l’eau

webfull — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 14:38:33 +0000

Lorsqu’une contamination bactérienne se déclare à proximité d’une ferme, il faut cibler le plus rapidement possible les élevages problématiques puisque certaines souches peuvent parfois infecter l’homme. L’objectif est de mettre en place des barrières naturelles qui empêcheront les ruissellements provenant de ces fermes de se retrouver dans l’eau potable environnante.

Published: 9 October 2019

Cranberries join forces with antibiotics to fight bacteria

webfull — Tue, 28 May 2019 10:58:24 +0000

Published: 28 May 2019

Detecting bacteria in space

webfull — Wed, 22 May 2019 18:24:36 +0000

Scientists at the University of Montreal and �山ǿ�� have pioneered and tested a new genomic methodology which reveals a complex bacterial ecosystem at work on the International Space Station.

Until now, relatively little was known about the different types of microbes found on the space station. The new approach enables researchers to identify and map different species inside the ISS, which will ultimately help safeguard astronauts’ health and be key to future long-term space travel.

Published: 22 May 2019

Nano-sized traps show promise in diagnosing pathogenic bacterial infections

webfull — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:16:46 +0000

A new type of “lab on a chip” developed by �山ǿ�� scientists has the potential to become a clinical tool capable of detecting very small quantities of disease-causing bacteria in just minutes.

The device designed by Sara Mahshid, Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at �山ǿ��, is made of nano-sized “islands,” about one tenth of the thickness of a single human hair, which act as bacterial traps or snares.

Published: 30 July 2018

The secret to longevity is in the microbiome and the gut

webfull — Thu, 31 May 2018 13:49:10 +0000

You are what you eat. Or so the saying goes. Science now tells us that we are what the bacteria living in our intestinal tract eat and this could have an influence on how well we age. Building on this, �山ǿ�� scientists fed fruit flies with a combination of probiotics and an herbal supplement called Triphala that was able to prolong the flies’ longevity by 60 % and protect them against chronic diseases associated with aging.

Published: 31 May 2018