Art With Bacteria to Find Antibiotic Resistance

 Biophysicists are growing Petri dishes of different species of bacteria in order to develop new antibiotics. The bacteria are subjected to different temperatures and have limited food sources inside the dish. Despite these conditions, most colonies tend to communicate and reproduce. Their growth results in unique patterns of varying colors--a sort of "bacteria painting." Researchers are hoping to learn more about the strategies the bacteria use to thrive, in order to find weaknesses that new drugs could exploit.
For more info:http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/1211-bacteria_as_art.htm

New Research Traces Evolutionary Path of Multidrug-Resistant Streptococcus

 New Research Traces Evolutionary Path of Multidrug-Resistant Streptococcus
In a landmark paper published this week in Science, scientists from Rockefeller University and the Sanger Institute have used full genome sequencing to identify the precise steps in the molecular evolution of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Their research shows the changes the genome of this bacterium has undergone in time and during its massive geographic spread over the globe.
The researchers, led by the Sanger Institute's Stephen D. Bentley, used high resolution genome sequencing on clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae provided by a number of collaborating laboratories, including the Laboratory of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Rockefeller University, headed by Alexander Tomasz. With data available for the date, geographic site and infection site of these isolates, Bentley and colleagues were able to produce a roadmap for the evolution of a major multidrug resistant clones of pneumococci known as the PMEN clone 1, sequence type 81.
"The phenomenon of genetic transformation, which led Oswald Avery and his Rockefeller colleagues in 1944 to identify DNA as the genetic material, is the very process that Streptococcus pneumoniae uses during evolution in its real in vivo environment," says Tomasz.

For more info visit http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/ru-nrt012811.php

Food-borne bug causes heart infection

Researchers have found that particular strains of a food-borne bug are able to invade the heart, causing serious and difficult-to-treat infections. 

The bacteria Listeria monocytogenes is commonly found in soft cheese and chilled ready-to-eat products.

Listeria infections are usually mild, but for susceptible individuals and the elderly, it can infect the central nervous system, the placenta and the developing foetus, the Journal of Medical  Microbiology reports.

About 10 per cent of serious listeria infections involve a cardiac infection, says Nancy Freitag, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Illinois and principal study investigator. 

Read more: Food-borne bug causes heart infection - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Food-borne-bug-causes-heart-infection/articleshow/7371133.cms#ixzz1CKDyp8D3

Household Bugs: A Risk to Human Health?

Superbugs are not just a problem in hospitals but could be also coming from our animal farms. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Microbiology indicates insects could be responsible for spreading antibiotic resistant bacteria from pigs to humans.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126081706.htm

Microbes in Space

In the late 1990s, NASA decided to join the Russian space program in its evaluation of the microbial activity aboard Mir. NASA wanted to learn about the kinds of organisms that can grow in  spacecraft occupied for long periods of time and where air and water are  recycled.
When they opened a rarely-accessed service panel in Mir's Kvant-2 Module and discovered a large free-floating mass of water. Samples extracted from the globules by syringes and returned to Earth  for analysis contained several dozen species of bacteria and fungi, plus  some protozoa and dust mites.
Aboard Mir, colonies of organisms were also found growing on "the rubber  gaskets around windows, on the components of space suits, cable  insulations and tubing, on the insulation of copper wires, and on  communications devices," says Andrew Steele, scientist at the Carnegie  Institution of Washington working with other investigators at the  Marshall Space Flight Center In Alabama. Aside from being unattractive or an issue for human health, microorganisms can attack the structure of a spacecraft itself. In short, germs can be as bad for a spacecraft's health as for crew health