#Factors that influence spinach contamination pre-harvest determineda team of researchers from Texas and Colorado has identified a variety of factors that influence the likelihood of E coli contamination of spinach on farms prior
E coli contamination of spinach on farms in Colorado and Texas was 172 times more likely
As E coli is used commonly as an indicator of fecal contamination with food-borne pathogens the practice of hygiene--availability of portable toilets
The researchers assayed 955 spinach samples from 12 farms in the two states finding that generic E coli was present on 63 of them (6. 6 percent.
and examined what type of bacteria was in the intestine through fecal samples and intestinal biopsies.
In the high-fructose group the researchers found that the type of intestinal bacteria hadn't changed
and consequently allowing the bacteria to leak out at a 30 percent higher rate Kavanagh said.
What we can say is added that high sugars caused bacteria to exit the intestines go into the blood stream
and bacteria using freshly cut plant material. While these fungus gardens are a source of food
and support from Roche Applied science's 10 Gigabase Grant Program to understand the unique roles of fungi and bacteria.
in fact the gardens are also home to a diversity of bacteria that may help boost the fungus's productivity.
and bacteria says Garret Suen co-author of the study and a UW-Madison assistant professor of bacteriology and Wisconsin Energy Institute researcher.
The researchers have a few leads in their investigation of the mysterious role of bacteria in leaf-cutter ant communities
In addition to providing nitrogen and key vitamins the bacteria appear to help the fungus access energy-rich cellulose by breaking apart other plant polymers that encase it such as hemicellulose.
Lambert said that another theory is that excess fat in the diet interferes with the body's ability to keep a bacterial component called endotoxin from entering the bloodstream through gaps between cells in the digestive system--gut barrier function
Madslien found a high prevalence of bacteria of the genus Bartonella spp. both in the moose's blood and in the keds themselves.
Whereas moose outside the distribution range of the ked were infected with only one type of Bartonella bacterium moose inside the distribution range were infected with two different Bartonella bacteria.
These findings indicate that moose are a reservoir for Bartonella spp . and that deer keds act as vectors for Bartonella bacteria infections.
However it is not yet clear to what degree these bacteria can cause disease. Measuring the stress hormone cortisol in the moose's coat was used as a method for appraising the long-term effect of the deer ked on the health
and welfare of moose but Madslien found that in general there was little connection between the number of deer keds the weight of moose at the time of slaughter and the level of cortisol in the hair.
Successes and failures from the first billion acressince 1996 farmers worldwide have planted more than a billion acres (400 million hectares) of genetically modified corn and cotton that produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium
Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short. Bt proteins used for decades in sprays by organic farmers kill some devastating pests
We've also started exchanging ideas and information with scientists facing related challenges such as herbicide resistance in weeds and resistance to drugs in bacteria HIV and cancer.
Evolving diversity of microbial life in bird gutsgut bacteria are known to have a central role both in human and in animal health.
Animals acquire different bacteria as they age but how the microbial communities in the bodies of wild animals change over time is understood not well.
Wouter Van dongen and colleagues at the Vetmeduni Vienna have examined the gastrointestinal bacteria of chick and adult black-legged kittiwakes.
Surprisingly the microbial assemblages of chicks and adults generally differ greatly with only a few types of bacteria in common.
Gastrointestinal bacteria are important for digestion immune functions and general health. Wouter Van dongen and colleagues from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the Vetmeduni Vienna have collaborated with scientists from the Laboratoire Ãolution
& Diversit Biologique (EDB) Toulouse and from the US Geological Survey Anchorage to study the cloacal bacterial assemblies of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla).
The bacteria in the cloaca are known to be similar to assemblages deeper within the gastrointestinal tract so the researchers examined samples from the cloaca of birds at different ages to look indirectly at gut bacteria.
Flushing bacteriato obtain bacterial samples the researchers flushed the birds'cloacae by gently infusing a salt solution into the cloacae and collecting the liquid.
The bacterial diversity in the cloaca of each bird could be estimated with the aid of molecular genetic techniques.
The scientists were able to identify different bacterial assemblages and thus to draw a clear picture of how bacterial communities in bird guts change as the birds age.
From a youthful hodgepodge to a stable communitythere turned out to be a great variety of bacterial species in the guts of kittiwake chicks
but the assortment in the adults was much less diverse. Astonishingly the sampled chicks and adults had only seven out of a total of 64 bacteria species in common
and some of the bacteria that were very common in adults were not present in chicks at all.
Wouter Van dongen says We were surprised very to find that the bacteria in chick gastrointestinal tracts are so different from those in adults.
Given that chicks share the nest with their parents and eat food that is regurgitated by the parents we expected the level of bacterial sharing to be a lot higher.
The scientists'findings suggest that young birds are susceptible to many species of bacteria that pass through their gut.
As the animals mature the number of bacterial species decreases. Particular groups of bacteria that stay ultimately form a stable community.
A number of causesit is known from other studies that the composition of gastrointestinal microbes changes according to the age of the host.
The differences may correlate with changes in the birds'gut chemistry over time or with changes in diet
or may result from competition between bacterial species. A more developed immune system in adults and the lack of mobility of the young could also play a part.
Further studies are needed to determine the causes and consequences of the variation in the bacterial assemblages in guts of wild birds.
or from bacteria biomarkers said Jaramillo. When intense volcanic activity produced huge quantities of carbon dioxide 120 million years ago in the mid-Cretaceous period yearly temperatures in the South American tropics rose 9
#Changing gut bacteria through diet affects brain functionucla researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans.
In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function both
The discovery that changing the bacterial environment or microbiota in the gut can affect the brain carries significant implications for future research that could point the way toward dietary
one group ate a specific yogurt containing a mix of several probiotics--bacteria thought to have a positive effect on the intestines--twice a day for four weeks;
The UCLA researchers are seeking to pinpoint particular chemicals produced by gut bacteria that may be triggering the signals to the brain.
Selecting the final list of new species from a wide representation of life forms such as bacteria fungi plants
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.
Bais first identified the bacterial species in soil samples taken from rice fields in California.
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
The research also characterised a new profile of Mycobacterium bovis bacterium (SB1982) which has never been reported before.
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
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.
Proposed by British epidemiologist Richard Strachen in 1989 the hypothesis is that children who have had a lack of exposure to bacteria
In the new study the team found the composition of human bacteria is affected by factors like age
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;
At the same time the pathogens in wastewater such as viruses fungi and bacteria could destroy the algae themselves
#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.
and safer wastewater reuse (e g. photocatalytically-enhanced disinfection biofouling-resistant membranes and biofilm-and corrosion-resistant surfaces).
#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.
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.
Corn and cotton have been modified genetically to produce pest-killing proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short.
#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.
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:
#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
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.
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.
#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
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
and sample foreign matter such as vaccines bacteria or viruses they come together as a group during what he and his team call the critical differentiation period.
In experiments with a mouse model of human immune function the scientists vaccinated mice for listeria a common bacterium that causes food-borne illness
and then exposed the animals to the bacteria. Mice in which the critical differentiation period was allowed to occur unimpeded remained healthy protected from a potentially lethal infection.
Not in offshore oil wells but in the water where blue-green algae thrive. The building blocks of blue-green algae#sunlight carbon dioxide and bacteria#are being used by researchers at KTH Royal Institute of technology in Stockholm to produce butanol a hydrocarbon-like fuel for motor vehicles.
The advantage of butanol is that the raw materials are abundant and renewable and production has the potential to be 20 times more efficient than making ethanol from corn and sugar cane.
Using genetically-modified cyanobacteria the team linked butanol production to the algae s natural metabolism says Paul Hudson a researcher at the School of Biotechnology at KTH who leads the research.#
#oewith relevant genes integrated in the right place in cyanobacteria s genome we have tricked the cells to produce butanol instead of fulfilling their normal function#he says.
Hudson says that it could be a decade before production of biofuel from cyanobacteria is a commercial reality.#
#oewe are excited very that we are now able to produce biofuel from cyanobacteria. At the same time we must remember that the manufacturing process is very different from today's biofuels#he says.#
A bacterium that produces cheap fuel by sunlight and carbon dioxide could change the world. Hudson agrees.#
#oefuel based on cyanobacteria requires very little ground space to be prepared. And the availability of raw materials-sunlight carbon dioxide and seawater-is in principle infinite#Hudson says.
He adds that some cyanobacteria also able to extract nitrogen from the air and thus do need not any fertilizer.
The next step in the research is to ensure that cyanobacteria produce butanol in larger quantities without it dying of exhaustion or butanol
There are also plans to develop fuel from cyanobacteria that are more energetic and therefore particularly suitable for aircraft engines.
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