and vegetables do not carry bacteria or viruses that can make us sick. But in California's Salinas Valley some more vigorous interventions are cutting into the last corners of wildlife habitat and potentially threatening water quality without evidence of food safety benefits.
In the aftermath of a deadly 2006 Escherichia coli serotype O157: H7 outbreak traced to California spinach growers
Everyone knows that is a silly idea as it results in bacteria rapidly developing resistance. It is the same with these pesticides.
whether a naturally occurring soil bacterium referred to as UD1023 because it was characterized first at the University can create an iron barrier in rice roots that reduces arsenic uptake.
and microbes adjacent to rice roots--can be used to block the arsenic uptake. Bais first identified the bacterial species in soil samples taken from rice fields in California.
The pair's preliminary research has shown that UD1023 can mobilize iron from the soil and slow arsenic uptake in rice roots but the researchers have not yet determined exactly how this process works
We have a bacterium that moves iron and we want to see if creating an iron shield around the rice roots will slow arsenic movement into other parts of the plant Bais said.
Coating seeds with bacteria is very easy. With this bacteria you could implement easy low-cost strategies that farmers could use that would reduce arsenic in the human food chain.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Delaware. The original article was written by Juan C. Guerrero.
The wheat chromosome DNA is cloned in bacteria millions of bits of DNA which are sorted by robots
The four clones show certain resistance to the pathogens analysed such as the potato virus Y as well as the Pectobacterium atrosepticum bacteria
This is the first high-energy X-ray analysis of plant-microbe interactions. X-rays such as those from the APS provided a high sensitivity to elements and a high spatial resolution not attainable by other means.
The research also characterised a new profile of Mycobacterium bovis bacterium (SB1982) which has never been reported before.
The recent human cases of H7n9 avian influenza demonstrate the importance of adopting the lessons learned from H5n1 avian influenza.
The studies on H5n1 found that despite shifts in government policies towards support for large scale industrial poultry production small scale production still needs support as it is a major source of income for women and the rural poor.
The team conducting studies on the effectiveness of control measures against H5n1 found that there were significant deficiencies in biosecurity practices in most of the farms studied especially but not only small scale farms.
The various studies also found that with H5n1 control wide area culling in which all poultry in a large zone around known infected flocks are culled had very severe effects on livelihoods because of the level of disruption
The studies conducted by APEIR did find some additional influenza virus subtypes other than H5n1 viruses
when sulfates in the oceans were decomposed by sulfur bacteria is believed to have played a significant role in several extinction events in particular the Great Dying at the end of the Permian period.
#Parents tend to share more bacteria with family dogs than childrenas much as dog owners love their children they tend to share more of themselves at least in terms of bacteria with their canine cohorts rather than their kids.
That is just one finding of a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder that looked at the types
and transfer modes of microbes from the guts tongues foreheads and palms (or paws) of members of 60 American families including canines.
Identifying how such bacterial communities can be affected by environmental exposure may help scientists better understand how they can be manipulated to prevent
and all four paws were swabbed for bacteria in the absence of canine palms. One of the biggest surprises was that we could detect such a strong connection between their owners
If you want to share more of your skin bacteria with your spouse get a dog.
The number of microbes living on and inside a typical human is about 100 trillion outnumbering human cells by about 10 to one.
And the microorganisms humans carry around--or don't--have been linked to a broad spectrum of diseases ranging from malnutrition
There is mounting evidence that exposure to a variety of environmental sources of microbes can affect long-term health findings known as the'hygiene hypothesis'said Song a graduate student in CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department and first
Proposed by British epidemiologist Richard Strachen in 1989 the hypothesis is that children who have had a lack of exposure to bacteria
and microorganisms might be more prone to getting sick because many microbes have evolved co with people to be beneficial.
In the new study the team found the composition of human bacteria is affected by factors like age
and environmental exposure said Song. Our skin microbiota in particular seems to be the most malleable by our immediate surroundings
and gut communities with their own children than with other children but only after about age 3. Such results indicate it is probably easier to exchange skin microbes on home surfaces
or gut bacteria likely because skin surfaces are less selective environments said Knight. Other paper co-authors included Christian Lauber Catherine Lozupone Gregory Humphrey Donna Berg-Lyons and Noah Fierer from CU-Boulder;
and biochemistry department since results from previous studies suggested there were components of co-habitation involved in microbe sharing.
Knight also is involved in the American Gut project a crowdfunded effort that allows members of the public to learn more about their own individual microbes as well as microbes being carried by their dogs.
At the same time the pathogens in wastewater such as viruses fungi and bacteria could destroy the algae themselves
The fact that moths ants and fruit flies are known now to self-medicate has profound implications for the ecology and evolution of animal hosts and their parasites according to Mark Hunter a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and at the School
We can learn a lot about how to treat parasites and disease by watching other animals.
Parasite-infected monarch butterflies protect their offspring against high levels of parasite growth by laying their eggs on anti-parasitic milkweed.
The authors argue that animal medication has several major consequences on the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions.
For one when animal medication reduces the health of parasites there should be observable effects on parasite transmission or virulence.
#Biofilm helps Salmonella survive hostile conditionsvirginia Tech scientists have provided new evidence that biofilms--bacteria that adhere to surfaces
and build protective coatings--are at work in the survival of the human pathogen Salmonella. One out of every six Americans becomes ill from eating contaminated food each year with over a million illnesses caused by Salmonella bacteria according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Finding out what makes Salmonella resistant to antibacterial measures could help curb outbreaks. Researchers affiliated with the Fralin Life science Institute discovered that
in addition to protecting Salmonella from heat-processing and sanitizers such as bleach biofilms preserve the bacteria in extremely dry conditions
and again when the bacteria are subjected to normal digestive processes. The study is now online in the International Journal of Food Microbiology
and will appear in the April issue. Biofilms are an increasing problem in food processing plants serving as a potential source of contamination said Monica Ponder an assistant professor of Food Science and Technology in the College of Agriculture and Life sciences.
We have discovered that Salmonella in biofilms survive on dried foods much better than previously thought
and because of this are more likely to cause disease said Ponder. Outbreaks of Salmonella associated with dried foods such as nuts cereals spices powdered milk
and pet foods have been associated with over 900 illnesses in the last five years. These foods were thought previously to be safe
because the dry nature of the product stops microbial growth Most people expect to find Salmonella on raw meats
In moist conditions Salmonella thrive and reproduce abundantly. If thrust into a dry environment they cease to reproduce
which produce a biofilm protecting them from the detrimental environment. Researchers tested the resilience of the Salmonella biofilm by drying it
and storing it in dry milk powder for up to 30 days. At various points it was tested in a simulated gastrointestinal system.
Salmonella survived this long-term storage in large numbers but the biofilm Salmonella were more resilient than the free-floating cells treated to the same conditions.
The bacteria's stress response to the dry conditions also made it more likely to cause disease.
Biofilms allowed the Salmonella to survive the harsh acidic environment of the stomach increasing its chances of reaching the intestines where infection results in the symptoms associated with food poisoning.
This research may help shape Food and Drug Administration's regulations by highlighting the need for better sanitation
and new strategies to reduce biofilm formation on equipment thus hopefully decreasing the likelihood of another outbreak.
New techniques to help halt the spread of diseasescientists have revealed a new technique to introduce disease-blocking bacteria into mosquitoes with promising results that may halt the spread of diseases such as dengue yellow fever and potentially malaria.
When infected with the bacteria Wolbachia mosquitoes are unable to spread viruses such as dengue a disease
However the bacteria has been difficult to spread within the mosquito population because it reduces the mosquitoes'ability to lay viable eggs.
Now Professor Hoffmann from the University of Melbourne and Professor Michale Turelli from the University of California have shown that by introducing an insecticide resistance gene alongside the Wolbachia bacteria into the mosquito that the insects pass on the disease-blocking bacteria to other mosquitoes faster.
Our results show that Wolbachia-based strategies could hold the key to a cheap and sustainable approach to disease control Professor Hoffmann said.
Wolbachia bacteria strains live naturally inside up to 70%of all insects and are known to protect them against viral infection.
The disease-blocking strain of Wolbachia was discovered first in Australian fruit flies in 1988 by Prof Hoffmann
and trials with collaborators at Monash and James Cook Universities in 2011 showed that Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes were unable to spread the dengue virus.
The approach taken in this new work involves adding a pesticide resistance gene to a newer strain of Wolbachia called wmelpop
and malaria-prone regions and so this strategy should select for the survival of only the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes
because a Wolbachia-infected female with a resistance gene will always pass on both the gene and the bacteria to her offspring.
Then when an uninfected female mates with an infected male the bacterium causes cytoplasmic incompatibility which leads to the death of embryos.
but the nocturnal parasites'ability to hide almost anywhere breed rapidly and hitchhike from place to place makes detection difficult.
and seemed to ensnare the blood-seeking parasites on their nightly forays. The bug-encrusted greenery was burned the next morning to exterminate the insects.
and safer wastewater reuse (e g. photocatalytically-enhanced disinfection biofouling-resistant membranes and biofilm-and corrosion-resistant surfaces).
Therefore it is important to understand how engineered nanoparticles interact with microorganisms which form the basis of all known ecosystems
#Microalgae produce more oil faster for energy, food or productsscientists have described technology that accelerates microalgae's ability to produce many different types of renewable oils for fuels chemicals foods
Walter Rakitsky Ph d explained that microalgae are the original oil producers on earth and that all of the oil-producing machinery present in higher plants resides within these single-cell organisms.
Solazyme's breakthrough biotechnology platform unlocks the power of microalgae achieving over 80 percent oil within each individual cell at commercial scale
Solazyme's patented microalgae strains have become the workhorses of a growing industry focused on producing commercial quantities of microalgal oil for energy and food applications.
Solazyme is able to produce all of these oils in one location simply by switching out the strain of microalgae they use Rakitsky explained.
which algae grow in open ponds Solazyme grows microalgae in total darkness in the same kind of fermentation vats used to produce vinegar medicines and scores of other products.
Instead of sunlight energy for the microalgae's growth comes from low-cost plant-based sugars. This gives the company a completely consistent repeatable industrial process to produce tailored oil at scale Sugar from traditional sources such as sugarcane
and corn has advantages for growing microalgae especially their abundance and relatively low cost Rakitsky said.
and moregenes from the family of bacteria that produce vinegar Kombucha tea and nata de coco have become stars in a project
In the 1800s French scientist Louis Pasteur first discovered that vinegar-making bacteria make a sort of moist skin swollen gelatinous and slippery--a skin now known as bacterial nanocellulose.
Nanocellulose made by bacteria has advantages including ease of production and high purity that fostered the kind of scientific excitement reflected in the first international symposium on the topic Brown pointed out.
Brown recalled that in 2001 a discovery by David Nobles Ph d. a member of the research team at the University of Texas at Austin refocused their research on nanocellulose but with a different microbe.
Nobles established that several kinds of blue-green algae which are mainly photosynthetic bacteria much like the vinegar-making bacteria in basic structure;
however these blue-green algae or cyanobacteria as they are called can produce nanocellulose. One of the largest problems with cyanobacterial nanocellulose is that it is made not in abundant amounts in nature.
If it could be scaled up Brown describes this as one of the most important discoveries in plant biology.
Since the 1970s Brown and colleagues began focusing on Acetobacter xylinum (A. xylinum) a bacterium that secretes nanocellulose directly into the culture medium
Other members of the Acetobacter family find commercial uses in producing vinegar and other products.
or other bacteria engineered with those genes to make commercial amounts of nanocellulose. Bacteria for instance would need a high-purity broth of food
and other nutrients to grow in the huge industrial fermentation tanks that make everything from vinegar and yogurt to insulin and other medicines.
Those drawbacks shifted their focus on engineering the A. xylinum nanocellulose genes into Nobles'blue-green algae. Brown explained that algae have multiple advantages for producing nanocellulose.
Cyanobacteria for instance make their own nutrients from sunlight and water and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while doing so.
Cyanobacteria also have the potential to release nanocellulose into their surroundings much like A. xylinum making it easier to harvest.
In his report at the ACS meeting Brown described how his team already has engineered genetically the cyanobacteria to produce one form of nanocellulose the long-chain
And they are moving ahead with the next step engineering the cyanobacteria to synthesize a more complete form of nanocellulose one that is a polymer with a crystalline architecture.
The genome sequencing of the first North american pest bark beetle species in the Genus dendroctonus also uncovers a bacterial gene that has jumped into the MPB genome.
and/or microorganisms that grow in the beetle's tunnels beneath the bark of a tree explains Keeling.
which already include human specimens mice the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana cell lines genes and microorganisms.
#Hepatitis a virus discovered to cloak itself in membranes hijacked from infected cellsviruses have historically been classified into one of two types--those with an outer lipid-containing envelope and those without an envelope.
For the first time researchers at the University of North carolina have discovered that Hepatitis a virus a common cause of enterically-transmitted hepatitis takes on characteristics of both virus types depending on
In a paper published online in Nature on March 31 Dr. Lemon's team discovered that Hepatitis a virus does not have an envelope
What we have discovered is that a virus that has been considered classically to be enveloped'non'that is Hepatitis a virus actually hijacks membranes from the cells it grows in to wrap itself in an envelope.
Dr. Lemon believes the dual nature of Hepatitis a virus allows it to use the advantages of both virus types to enhance its survivability.
What Hepatitis a virus has done and we don't totally understand how it has accomplished this is to have the advantage of existing as a virus with no envelope
While no other virus has been shown to exhibit this particular behavior Dr. Lemon said that it is likely that Hepatitis a virus is not unique in its dual nature.
The biocatalysts used to release the hydrogen are a group of enzymes artificially isolated from different microorganisms that thrive at extreme temperatures some
The natural or engineered microorganisms that most scientists use in their experiments cannot produce hydrogen in high yield
because these microorganisms grow and reproduce instead of splitting water molecules to yield pure hydrogen. To liberate the hydrogen Virginia Tech scientists separated a number of enzymes from their native microorganisms to create a customized enzyme cocktail that does not occur in nature.
The enzymes when combined with xylose and a polyphosphate liberate the unprecedentedly high volume of hydrogen from xylose resulting in the production of about three times as much hydrogen as other hydrogen-producing microorganisms.
The energy stored in xylose splits water molecules yielding high-purity hydrogen that can be utilized directly by proton-exchange membrane fuel cells.
#Feeding corn germ to pigs does not affect growth performanceinclusion of corn germ in swine diets can reduce diet costs depending on the local cost of corn germ and other ingredients.
Recent research conducted at the University of Illinois indicates that corn germ can be included at up to 30 percent in diets fed to growing pigs.
In previous research we had seen that pigs do very well on diets containing 10 percent corn germ
if higher inclusion rates can be used said Hans Stein professor of animal sciences at Illinois. The corn germ used in this study came from the ethanol
This product is different from the corn germ produced from the wet milling industry which contains 30 to 40 percent fat.
Stein's team tested diets containing 0 percent 10 percent 20 percent and 30 percent corn germ.
They tested each inclusion level of corn germ in diets containing 30 percent distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as well as in diets containing no DDGS.
or backfat quality as increasing amounts of corn germ were added to the diets regardless of the inclusion level of DDGS.
The results of this work demonstrate that pig growth rate will not be changed by the inclusion of up to 30 percent corn germ in the diets
the diets containing more corn germ also contained more fat. As a result the bellies of pigs fed diets with no DDGS were softer as corn germ levels increased.
Producers may have to reduce the inclusion rate during the final three to four weeks before slaughter Stein concluded.
whether reducing the inclusion rate of corn germ in late-finishing diets would ameliorate the negative effects on belly quality might be warranted.
The study Up to 30 percent corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs without affecting pig growth performance carcass composition
Corn and cotton have been modified genetically to produce pest-killing proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short.
This phenomenon is known as parasitic power loss and it will drive up the cost of electricity by lowering the amount of electricity a plant can produce for sale.
and the use of waste heat--can reduce parasitic power loss from about 35 percent to around 25 percent.
and a single integrated column that the team hopes can further economize CO2 capture by increasing efficiency and reducing parasitic power loss.
#Diverse bacteria on fresh fruits, vegetables vary with produce type, farming practicesfresh fruit and vegetables carry an abundance of bacteria on their surfaces not all of
which cause disease. In the first study to assess the variety of these non-pathogenic bacteria scientists report that these surface bacteria vary depending on the type of produce and cultivation practices.
The results are published March 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Jonathan Leff and Noah Fierer at the University of Colorado Boulder.
and strawberries have similar surface bacteria with the majority of these microbes belonging to one family.
Fruit like apples peaches and grapes have more variable surface bacterial communities from three or four different groups.
The authors also found differences in surface bacteria between produce grown using different farming practices.
These surface bacteria on produce can impact the rate at which food spoils and may be the source of typical microbes on kitchen surfaces.
Previous studies have shown that although such microbes don't necessarily cause disease they may still interact with
and perhaps inhibit the growth of disease-causing microbes. The results of this new research suggest that people may be exposed to substantially different bacteria depending on the types of produce they consume Story Source:
The above story is provided based on materials by Public library of Science. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Poultry probiotic cuts its coat to beat bad bacteriaa strain of probiotic bacteria that can fight harmful bacterial infections in poultry has the ability to change its coat according to new findings from the Institute of Food Research.
The probiotic is currently being taken forward through farm-scale trials to evaluate how well it combats Clostridium perfringens--a cause of necrotic enteritis in poultry and the second most common cause of food poisoning in the UKTHE researchers at IFR
which is funded strategically by the Biotechnology and Biological sciences Research Council had previously found that the probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonsii
when given to young chicks prevents the colonisation of C. perfringens. Now in research published in the journal PLOS ONE they have found that the probiotic bacteria have the ability to alter their coat.
They speculate that this could be one way in which the probiotic outcompete C. perfringens.
when examining the bacteria that a small number of them appear smooth. They identified genes responsible for making a special coat or slime capsule which the bacteria surround themselves In this protects the bacteria from stomach acids
and bile salts and helps them come together to form biofilms. It may also protect against drying out when outside the host.
The natural appearance of smooth mutants could be used a ploy by the bacteria to introduce variation into its populations making them able to take advantage of different environments.
By turning off one or more of the coat genes they could see what effect this had on its ability to stick to gut tissues.
This competitive exclusion could be one reason why the probiotic strain prevents the growth of other harmful bacteria.
As these bacteria have previously been used in the food chain and are considered safe for human consumption this probiotic strain could become new way of controlling C. perfringens.
and another type of pesticide coumaphos that is used in honeybee hives to kill the Varroa mite a parasitic mite that attacks the honey bee.
#Microalgae could be a profitable source of biodieseldinoflagellate microalgae could be used as a raw material to obtain biodiesel easily and profitably.
Researchers at the UAB's Institute of Environmental science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) have analysed the potential of different species of microalgae for producing biodiesel comparing their growth production of biomass
Their study shows that one type of marine algae that has received little attention till now--dinoflagellate microalgae--is highly suitable for cultivation with the aim of producing biodiesel.
microalgae cultures are close to producing biodiesel profitably even in uncontrolled environmental conditions. If we make simple adjustments to completely optimise the process biodiesel obtained by cultivating these marine microalgae could be an option for energy supplies to towns near the sea points out Sergio Rossi an ICTA researcher at the UAB.
Among these adjustments scientists highlight the possibility of reusing leftover organic pulp (the glycerol and protein pulp that is not converted into biodiesel)
Though similar studies have been done on other alga species dinoflagellate microalgae have shown themselves to be a very promising group that stands out from the rest.
Moreover these microalgae are autochthonous to the Mediterranean so they would present no environmental threat in the event of leakagethird-generation biodieselfirst-generation biodiesel
or the 2009 H1n1 swine flu outbreak that killed 280000 worldwide developed when viruses from humans and animals exchanged genes to create a new virus in a process called reassortment.
the seasonal H3n2 human flu and the H5n1 strain of bird flu that has crossed occasionally over into humans.
Currently H5n1 has a 60 percent mortality rate in humans but is known not to spread between humans frequently.
caused by bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract. The findings slated to appear March 13 in the online scientific journal PLOS ONE offer hope that such milk may eventually help prevent human diarrheal diseases that each year claim the lives of 1. 8 million children around the world
Because lysozyme limits the growth of some bacteria that cause intestinal infections and diarrhea and also encourages the growth of other beneficial intestinal bacteria it is considered to be one of the main components of human milk that contribute to the health and well-being of breast-fed infants.
Pigs were chosen for this study as a research model because their gastrointestinal physiology is quite similar to humans
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