bacterial evolution

Animal family tree rearranged; how E. coli evades the immune system; pharmacological chaperones and misfolded proteins

Escherichia coli can quickly evolve to resist engulfment by macrophages, scientists have found.

In lab experiments, bacteria usurp small, damaged fragments of DNA, including those from a 43,000-year-old woolly mammoth.  

New rapid tests for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis appear highly accurate.

Mycobacterium smegmatis can donate larger portions of its genome to other bacteria than previously thought, approaching the level of gene shuffling seen in sexual reproduction.

Field studies reveal non-virulent bacteria take advantage of their virulent counterparts to get a free pass into their host.

Ancient bacteria living in deep-sea sediments are alive—but with metabolisms so slow that it’s hard to tell.

Scientists track changes in bacterial genomes during a hospital outbreak to discover potential pathogenesis genes.