or enhance the efficacy of microbes that attack insect pests. King elaborates The breakthrough discovery that spider toxins can have oral activity has implications not only for their use as bioinsecticides
#Influenza virus in wild birds in Norwayducks and gulls are the natural hosts of Influenza a virus.
Ragnhild Tønnessen's Phd research project has characterised Influenza a viruses in gulls and ducks in Norway.
Her discoveries may lead to a better understanding of the epidemiology and host adaptation of Influenza a virus.
Wild birds particularly ducks and gulls are the natural hosts for Influenza a viruses which can cause disease in animals and humans.
Influenza a viruses can be divided into subtypes of which the majority have been found in wild birds. Most subtypes of Influenza a virus cause subclinical infections in wild birds.
Infections in domestic chickens most commonly result in mild disease. In rare cases if introduced from wild birds to poultry some viruses of the H5
One example of this is the highly pathogenic H5n1 virus in Southeast asia known to cause#oebird flu#.
#Due to the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5n1 in Southeast asia a programme to monitor influenza viruses in wild birds in Norway was initiated in 2005.
Many different subtypes of the Influenza a virus were detected but not the highly pathogenic H5n1 virus. The complete genetic material from a total of five influenza viruses from mallard and common gull were sequenced and characterized.
The results showed that the genes of the Norwegian viruses resembled the genes found in influenza viruses from other wild birds in Europe.
and she discovered that more than 70%of the adult birds had developed antibodies against Influenza a virus. The majority of the kittiwakes had antibodies against an influenza virus subtype typically found in gulls namely H16.
Ragnhild Tønnessen defended her doctoral research on 27th august 2013 at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science with a thesis entitled Epidemiology and Host Adaptation of Influenza a viruses in Gulls#.
#Bacteria enhance growth of fruit trees up to 40 percentimprovement in reforestation and agriculture is possible thanks to the work of scientists in the Center of Research
and bacteria to promote development and health in trees which have enabled them to accelerate growth of different species up to 40 percent.
Hence the importance of microorganisms that provide benefits to the trees for example increasing their development giving more stability
He also explains that the beneficial bacteria are located in the immediate area surrounding the root
or rhizosphere and among these bacteria are classified a group as growth promoters which fulfill the function of helping the plant development
and protect it from the attack of pathogenic microorganisms or by producing phytohormones; these substances allow a supply of nutrients and water.
Besides the microorganism is responsible for exploring the ground beyond the reach of the roots and brings them useful elements for their development like phosphorus
However not all bacteria or fungi perform with the same efficiency. For this reason a very important part of the research consisted in selecting the best strains specific for oaks pines mesquites acacias and fruit trees.
They generally provide the same protection against bacteria as the natural skin if the foods are handled under sterile conditions
#Panda poop microbes could make biofuels of the futureunlikely as it may sound giant pandas Ya Ya
We have discovered microbes in panda feces might actually be a solution to the search for sustainable new sources of energy.
Brown and her students based at Mississippi State university now have identified more than 40 microbes living in the guts of giant pandas at the Memphis Zoo that could make biofuel production from plant waste easier and cheaper.
Brown and other scientists are looking for bacteria that are highly efficient in breaking down lignocellulose
Bacteria in giant panda digestive tracts are prime candidates. Not only do pandas digest a diet of bamboo
but have a short digestive tract that requires bacteria with unusually potent enzymes for breaking down lignocellulose.
so their microbes have to be very efficient to get nutritional value out of the bamboo Brown said.
when it comes to biofuel production--that's why we focused on the microbes in the giant panda.
Working with scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Brown's team identified bacteria that break down lignocellulose into simple sugars which can be fermented into bioethanol.
They also found bacteria that can take those sugars and transform them into oils and fats for biodiesel production.
Brown said that either the bacteria themselves or the enzymes in them that actually do the work could be part of the industrial process.
and the microbes that live in it which is important because most of the diseases pandas get affect their guts said Brown.
Understanding the relationships between the microbes and the pandas as well as how they get their energy
Although microbes in the soil do break down those plastics much like leaves and grass in a garden compost pile uncertainties exist about the nature
Some of the leading theories about the cause of CCD include the use of certain pesticides parasites diseases and overall hive nutrition.
They season the wood for barrels and dry it outside or indoors a step that exposes it to fungi and bacteria.
Its nearly 20 talks cover a wide range of topics from the microbes in the human gut to the potential use of diet to manage inflammatory diseases.
and offices and undergoes processing to kill disease-causing microbes and remove other material. Processing leaves that water
Estimates of the amount of missing data were based on 7539 peer-reviewed studies about animals fungi seed plants bacteria and various microscopic organisms.
Bovine TB is primarily a disease of cattle caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. The disease is hugely expensive costing the Government over £91 million in England in 2010/11.
By combining the genomic sequences of the bacteria with information about when and where the sample was isolated
While we do not yet have sufficient data to be definitive it is clear that whole genome sequencing of the bacterium will play an important part in solving this puzzle.
Crop pests include fungi bacteria viruses insects nematodes viroids and oomycetes. The diversity of crop pests continues to expand
Losses of major crops to fungi and fungi-like microorganisms amount to enough to feed nearly nine percent of today's global population.
so its genome is a good model to understand how drug resistance develops in this complex group of closely related parasites
and drug target candidates the team identified a set of genes that are more active in certain stages of the parasite life cycle and within the parasite s gut.
They also identified five metabolic chokepoints#enzymes that are essential for a parasite s survival.
one against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and another against another type of worm. To discover these targets the team determined
#oenot only is this worm closely related to many other parasites of livestock it is also similar to some species of worms in humans.#
#oethis makes it an extremely important model parasite species for experimental studies.##oerevealing new drug targets against H. contortus could provide much-needed new treatment opportunities against parasitic worms in both animals and humans.
Microbes are essential partners in all aspects of plant physiology but human efforts to improve plant productivity have focused solely on the plant says Ian Sanders of University of Lausanne chair of the colloquium that produced the report.
The report How Microbes can Help Feed the World is based on the deliberation of a group of scientific experts who gathered for two days in WASHINGTON DC in December 2012 to consider a series of questions regarding how plant-microbe interactions
%Improved understanding of plant-microbe interactions has the potential to increase crop productivity by 20
The report looks in depth at the intimate relationship between microbes and agriculture including why plants need microbes
what types of microbes they need how they interact and the scientific challenges posed by the current state of knowledge.
It then makes a series of recommendations including greater investment in research the taking on of one
New technologies are making plant-microbe ecosystems easier to study and investment in this area of research could have dramatic benefits says Marilynn Roossinck Pennsylvania State university who helped organize the colloquium.
http://academy. asm. org/index. php/browse-all-reports/800-how-microbes-can-help-feed-the-world?
and successes. A proof of principleas a proof of principle Pakrasi and his colleagues plan to develop the synthetic biology tools needed to excise the nitrogen fixation system in one species of cyanobacterium (a phylum of green bacteria formerly considered to be algae)
Amazing cycling chemistryall cyanobacteria photosynthesize storing the energy of sunlight temporarily in ATP molecules and eventually in carbon-based molecules but only some of them fix nitrogen.
Studies of the evolutionary history of 49 strains of cyanobacteria suggest that their common ancestor was capable of fixing nitrogen
Cyanobacteria that both photosynthesize and fix nitrogen separate the two activities either in space or in time.
The one they've picked as the host Synechocystis 6803 is studied the best strain of cyanobacteria.
The scientists will need to figure out how to connect the transplanted nitrogen-fixing gene cluster to Synechocystis'clock.
Like every cyanobacterium Pakrasi said Synechocystis has a diurnal rhythm. But how to tap into that rhythm we don't know yet.
When the mixture is added to soil it boosts the population of microorganisms responsible for nitrification which is essential for plant nutrition.
The team demonstrated that the mass drug strategy nearly eliminated the parasite from humans but did not stop its transmission by mosquitoes.
Testing showed that parasite levels remained high in mosquitoes around the villages as much as decade later.
they could find no mosquitoes harboring parasites capable of transmitting the disease. Insecticide-treated bed nets already are used widely in areas where lymphatic filariasis
The insecticide reduces the life-span of the insect by half preventing it from living long enough for the parasite to become capable of transmission.
when the parasite reached its peak level in the human bloodstream--between midnight and 2: 00 a m. When the mosquitoes bite earlier in the day they ingest fewer parasites
and thus further compromise transmission of the infection to another human. We should not rely solely on mass drug administration to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
From these samples the researchers isolated several influenza viruses and genetically sequenced those of the H7n9 subtype as well as related H7n7 and H9n2 viruses.
Within ducks and later within chickens various strains of avian H7n9 H7n7 and H9n2 influenza exchanged genes with one another in different combinations.
and the extent of parasites the birds carried. In 217 days of netting birds over the course of the 4-year study Stoleson netted
which suggests that the maintenance of such early-successional habitats in mature forest may benefit these species. Study results did not find a correlation between habitat and the presence of fat or parasites.
#Honeyguide birds destroy own species eggs to eliminate competitionlike cuckoos honeyguides are parasitic birds that lay their eggs in other birds'nests
They are unusually vicious parasites whose imposter chicks stab the chicks of their host birds (often little bee-eaters) to death
because parasites benefit from concealing their eggs from one another was made first by Cambridge scientists Nick Davies
or more honeyguide females resulting in especially strong parasitic competition. Dr Spottiswoode said: Under these circumstances it makes good sense that honeyguides have a lot to gain from tricking other honeyguides.
It forms part of a wider research programme investigating coevolution between parasitic birds and their hosts in Zambia led by Dr Claire Spottiswoode who adds My colleagues and
which revealed the genetic cause of the blue coloured egg shell--surprisingly--an ancient harmless retrovirus in the domestic chicken.
A retrovirus is a virus that unlike most cellular organisms carries its genetic blueprint in the form of ribonucleic acid (RNA.
This makes it possible for genetic material from a retrovirus to become permanently incorporated into the DNA of an infected cell.
In this case the retrovirus'effect was to trigger an accumulation of a green-blue bile pigment called biliverdin in the eggshell as the egg develops in the hen.
An unexpected find was the unique integration sites for the retrovirus in South american/European and Asian chickens.
and diversity of species. It's quite remarkable--retroviruses are considered generally to integrate at random locations in the genome
and so the chance of a retrovirus integrating at more or less the same location in two chicken populations is extremely low.
It's therefore entirely possible that retroviruses could be playing a part in the diversity of egg colour
and E coli bacteria have joined forces to turn tough waste plant material into isobutanol a biofuel that matches gasoline's properties better than ethanol.
Escherichia coli meanwhile is relatively easy for researchers to genetically modify. James Liao's lab at the University of California-Los angeles provided E coli bacteria that had been engineered to convert sugars into isobutanol.
The Lin group put both microbe species into a bioreactor and served up corn stalks and leaves.
Colleagues at Michigan State university had treated pre the roughage to make it easier to digest. If you've ever had puffed rice cereal it's somewhat analogous said Jeremy Minty first author of the paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
and a recent doctoral graduate in Lin's lab. The fungi turned the roughage into sugars that fed both microbe species with enough left over to produce isobutanol.
The harmonious coexistence of the fungi and bacteria with stable populations was a key success of the experiment.
Convincing the microbes to play nicely pays off. You can put everything in one pot Lin said.
Lin's team used game theory to analyze the relationship between the fungi and bacteria. Breaking cellulose down into sugar is hard work
Meanwhile the E coli use the sugars without offering the fungus anything in return which makes it a cheater.
Even so the bacteria didn't take over the colony because the fungi produce the sugars near their cell membranes
The researchers can control E coli's advantage by tweaking how quickly the bacteria grow. Minty and others in Lin's group are now trying to improve on their energy conversion rate
and increase the tolerance of the T. reesei and E coli to isobutanol. The fuel is toxic
Moreover by engineering the bacteria differently they believe their system could produce a variety of petroleum-based chemicals in a sustainable way.
Focusing on the avian flu virus strain H5n1 research published today in the journal PLOS ONE identifies key stages in the poultry trade chain which lead to its transmission to other birds animals and humans.
The H5n1 avian flu strain has been responsible for the deaths of millions of poultry as well as 375 confirmed human deaths.
We identified poultry transportation slaughter preparation and consumption as critical control points in response to HPAI H5n1 outbreaks in Vietnam.
The research was conducted as part of a three year interdisciplinary study of the impact of H5n1 on mechanisms of transmission local livelihoods and food security.
The research could aid in the development of new drugs that use a similar mechanism as melittin's to attack cancer and bacteria.
An infection from a pathogen or parasite--even injuries burns or surgery--all cause an immediate decrease in testosterone.
In addition the Tsimane's regular exposure to pathogens and parasites requires additional calories for maintaining necessary immune function.
#MRSA strain in humans originally came from cattlea strain of bacteria that causes skin and soft tissue infections in humans originally came from cattle according to a study to be published in mbio the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
The researchers who conducted the genetic analysis of strains of Staphylococcus aureus known as CC97 say these strains developed resistance to methicillin after they crossed over into humans around forty years ago.
The findings highlight the potential for cows to serve as a reservoir for bacteria with the capacity for pandemic spread in humans.
and plasmids are important in order for the bacterium to adapt to different host species says Fitzgerald.
which indicates that the bacteria acquired resistance after they crossed over into humans presumably through exposure to antibiotics prescribed for treating human infections.
Any number of factors could create these differences making pigs--but not cattle--a source of a drug-resistant bacterium.
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite which is transmitted via the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes.
In the human body the parasites multiply in the liver and then infect red blood cells. In the PNAS study the researchers examined epidemiological data on microscopically confirmed malaria cases from rural areas some dating back to 1997.
Human cases of Lyme disease a bacterial illness that can cause serious neurological problems if left untreated are on the rise.
When those carbohydrates are consumed bacteria in the dental plaque on tooth surfaces produce acids says Christine Wu professor of pediatric dentistry
since milk is considered to be cavity-fighting acid production by plaque bacteria can be minimized by mixing it with cereal.
which make use of so-called entomopathogenic viruses that are harmful to insects in particular the baculovirus.
And the winner is#the granulosis virus or granulovirus which appears to be the most widespread.
%Slow action#Pulverised on the surface of potatoes or the eggs of the invasive species the granulovirus contaminates the larvae through ingestion.
Another advantage of baculoviruses is that they are innocuous to man vertebrae and plants. Moreover each viral strain attacks a very limited number of insect species. This host specificity means that the Guatemalan potato moth can be targeted
However only a very small number of plants most notably legumes (such as peas beans and lentils) have the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of nitrogen fixing bacteria.
Professor Edward Cocking Director of The University of Nottingham's Centre for Crop Nitrogen fixation has developed a unique method of putting nitrogen-fixing bacteria into the cells of plant roots.
when he found a specific strain of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in sugar-cane which he discovered could intracellularly colonise all major crop plants.
It is a naturally occurring nitrogen fixing bacteria which takes up and uses nitrogen from the air.
Plant seeds are coated with these bacteria in order to create a symbiotic mutually beneficial relationship and naturally produce nitrogen.
which impair the bees'ability to fight off a potentially lethal parasite according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland and the U s. Department of agriculture.
which were tested then for their ability to resist infection with Nosema ceranae--a parasite of adult honey bees that has been linked to a lethal phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder.
The miticides used to control Varroa mites also harmed the bees'ability to withstand parasitic infection.
A billion could benefita benign crystal protein produced naturally by bacteria and used as an organic pesticide could be a safe inexpensive treatment for parasitic worms in humans
Hookworms and other intestinal parasites known as helminths infect more than 1 billion people in poverty-stricken tropical nations sucking the vitality from the body and leaving hundreds of millions of children physically and mentally stunted.
In earlier research Aroian and his collaborators described a protein Cry5b that can kill intestinal nematode parasites--such as human hookworms--in infected test animals (hamsters.
These proteins are produced naturally in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) a bacterium which is applied to crops as a natural insecticide on some organic farms
As shown for the first time in this paper Cry5b can also be expressed in a species of bacterium Bacillus subtilis which is closely related to Bacillus thuringiensis and
which is also related to bacteria which are present in some probiotics says Aroian. In the current research researchers showed that a small dose of Cry5b expressed in this bacterium can achieve a 93 percent elimination of hookworm parasites from infected hamsters.
That says Aroian is substantially better than current drugs. The scientific significance of the research he says is that bacteria similar to those that are food grade
--which are cheap and can readily be produced mass--can be engineered to produce molecules that can cure parasitic diseases.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Microbiology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The solar steam sterilization system uses nanomaterials to convert as much as 80 percent of the energy in sunlight into germ-killing heat.
and pressure created by the steam were sufficient to kill not just living microbes but also spores and viruses.
In the PNAS study standard tests for sterilization showed the solar steam autoclave could kill even the most heat-resistant microbes.
A new study to be published in Nature's The ISME Journal reveals the profound effect it has on enriching soil with bacteria fungi and protozoa.
Changing the crop species massively changes the content of microbes in the soil which in turn helps the plant to acquire nutrients regulate growth
and the microbes in it were mostly bacteria However growing oat and pea in the same sample caused a huge shift towards protozoa and nematode worms.
and after growing wheat but peas and oats reset of the diversity of microbes said Professor Poole.
(which include bacteria) and eukaryotes (which include humans plants and animals as well as fungi). After only four weeks of growth the soil surrounding wheat contained about 3%eukaryotes.
This limits scientists to analysing one taxonomic group at a time such as bacteria. It also means that everything present in that group is analysed rather than
Every gram of soil contains over 50000 species of bacteria so the task is enormous.
It is now possible to sequence RNA across kingdoms so a full snapshot can be taken of the active bacteria fungi protozoa and other microbes in the soil.
By sequencing RNA we can look at the big picture of active microbes in the soil said Phd student Tom Turner from the John Innes Centre.
Seeds can be inoculated with bacteria before planting out just like humans taking a dose of friendly bacteria.
or quantity of microbes found in this study. The scientists also grew an oat variety unable to produce normal levels of avenacin a compound that protects roots from fungal pathogens.
The findings of the study could be used to develop plant varieties that encourage beneficial microbes in the soil.
John Innes Centre scientists are already investigating the possibility of engineering cereal crops able to associate with the nitrogen-fixing bacteria normally associated with peas.
and effects on soil microbes surrounding the roots said Professor Poole. Scientists breeders and farmers can make the most of these effects not only with
The call follows the discovery of parasites in over three-quarters of imported bumblebee colonies they tested.
but when they were tested using DNA technology 77%of the colonies were found to be carrying parasites.
Parasites were also found in the pollen food supplied with the bees. Screening revealed that the imported bumblebee colonies carried a range of parasites including the three main bumblebee parasites (Crithidia bombi Nosema bombi and Apicystis bombi) three honeybee parasites (Nosema
apis Ascosphaera apis and Paenibacillus larvae) and two parasites which infect both bumblebees and honeybees (Nosema ceranae and deformed wing virus). After the screening tests the team conducted a series of carefully controlled laboratory experiments to find out
whether the parasites carried by the commercially-produced bumblebee colonies were viable and able to infect other bees.
Lead author of the study Peter Graystock of the University of Leeds explains:##oewe found that commercially-produced bumblebee colonies contained a variety of microbial parasites
which were infectious and harmful not only to other bumblebees but also to honeybees.##The results suggest current regulations
and develop a parasite-free diet for their bees while regulatory authorities need to strengthen measures to prevent importation of parasite-carrying bumblebee colonies including checking bees on arrival in the UK
and extending regulations to cover imported colonies of the native subspecies. As well as increasing the prevalence of parasites in wild bumblebees
and managed honeybees near farms using the commercially-produced bumblebees continuing to import bumblebee colonies that carry parasites is also likely to introduce new species
or strains of parasites into some areas the authors warn. According to co-author of the study Professor William Hughes of the University of Sussex:#
#oeif we don t act then the risk is that potentially tens of thousands of parasite-carrying bumblebee colonies may be imported into the UK each year and hundreds of thousands worldwide.
Many bee species are already showing significant population declines due to multiple factors. The introduction of more or new parasite infections will at a minimum exacerbate this
and could quite possibly directly drive declines.##Although this is the first study of its kind in the UK research in North america South america
and Japan suggests that parasites introduced by commercial bumblebees may be a major cause of population declines of several bumblebee species including Bombus dahlbomii in Argentina and Bombus terricola and Bombus pensylvanicus in North america.
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