bacterial evolution

In work that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers present evidence that microbes can and do live inside the venom glands of several dangerous species. It remains unclear whether they’re to blame for infections linked to bites.

A massive screen of bacterial and archaeal genomes revealed five previously unknown instances where an organism uses an alternate code to translate genetic blueprints into proteins.

Researchers propose that some of the planet’s earliest photosynthesizers benefited from a slowing of the Earth’s rotation that allowed them to produce a surplus of oxygen and paved the way for more complex life.  

Bacteria-infecting viruses affect the composition and behavior of microbes in the mammalian gut—and perhaps influence human biology.

Phages interact with bacteria and eukaryotic cells in ways that researchers suspect influence mammalian health.

The finding that a bacterium within a bacterium within an animal cell cooperates with the host on a biosynthetic pathway suggests the endosymbiont is, practically speaking, an organelle.

The blue lagoons of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin provide a glimpse into the planet’s ancient past.

The ancient organisms appear to be more closely related to eukaryotes than previously appreciated.

Contrary to some hypotheses, the organelles did not descend from any known lineage of Alphaproteobacteria, researchers find.

From fish harvests to cottonwood forests, organisms display evidence that species change can occur on timescales that can influence ecological processes.

Viruses within Salmonella rapidly spread genes throughout the bacterial population during a gut infection, scientists show.

A bacterium’s ability to distinguish self from non-self can arise spontaneously, a study shows, reigniting questions of whether the trait can be considered an adaptation.

Strong selective pressure can lead to rapid and reproducible evolution in bacteria.

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.