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Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Space: Structures and Features

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Why does Hepatitis E become chronic in some patients, and why do medications not work? To find out, an international research team led by scientists from Bochum observed a patient with chronic Hepatitis E infection over a year. Repeated sequencing of the virus RNA showed that the virus incorporated various parts of the host's messenger RNA into its genome. This resulted in a replication advantage, which may have contributed to the infection becoming chronic.

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How do pathogens invade the lungs? Using human lung microtissues, a team has uncovered the strategy used by a dangerous pathogen. The bacterium targets specific lung cells and has developed a sophisticated strategy to break through the lungs' line of defense.

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Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in geologic climate models.

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When scientists transplanted the gut microbes of aged mice into young 'germ-free' mice -- raised to have no gut microbes of their own -- the recipient mice experienced an increase in inflammation that parallels inflammatory processes associated with aging in humans. Young germ-free mice transplanted with microbes from other young mice had no such increase.

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A new study has found that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder are three times more likely to have Bartonella DNA in their blood than adults without these disorders. The work further supports the idea that pathogens -- particularly vector-borne pathogens -- could play a role in mental illness.

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Astronomers have deciphered the formation history of young star clusters, some of which we can see with the naked eye at night. The team reports that most nearby young star clusters belong to only three families, which originate from very massive star-forming regions. This research also provides new insights into the effects of supernovae (violent explosions at the end of the life of very massive stars) on the formation of giant gas structures in galaxies like our Milky Way.

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Astronomers observing exoplanet GJ 3470 b saw evidence of water, carbon dioxide, methane and sulfur dioxide. Astronomers hope the discovery of this exoplanet's sulfurous atmosphere will advance our understanding of how planets forms.

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Scientists used CRISPR/Cas9 to increase gene expression in rice by changing its upstream regulatory DNA. While other studies have used the technology to knock out or decrease the expression of genes, this study, is an unbiased gene-editing approach to increase gene expression and downstream photosynthetic activity. The approach is more difficult than transgenic breeding, but could potentially preempt regulatory issues by changing DNA already within the plant, allowing the plants to get in the hands of farmers sooner.

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By studying mutations in yeast and human cells, scientists say they have found that biochemical bonds between fats and proteins in the mitochondrion, the cell's powerhouse, play a crucial role in how our cells produce energy.

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Feed costs for producing broiler chickens accounts for 60% to 70% of total production costs, and stump waste from the production of button mushrooms comprises nearly 30% of total mushroom weight. Marrying the two has the potential to reduce both cost and waste, especially in Pennsylvania, which is a national leader in the production of broiler chickens and button mushrooms.

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Biomedical engineers have developed a silk-based, ultrathin membrane that can be used in organ-on-a-chip models to better mimic the natural environment of cells and tissues within the body. When used in a kidney organ-on-a-chip platform, the membrane helped tissues grow to recreate the functionality of both healthy and diseased kidneys.

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A breakthrough study changes the way we understand cyanobacteria, which are essential for the sustenance of life. The study shows that these organisms do not operate in isolation, but rather physically interact through membrane-nanotubes, which function as exchange bridges between cells.

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Researchers have been investigating the molecular mechanisms responsible for determining sex in ants. Although the vast majority of an ant colony consists of female workers, males are essential to the continuing survival of the species. In order to uncover the mechanisms involved, the researchers decided to focus on diploid males, which occasionally occur in the Argentine ant.

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Researchers provide the first insight into the mode of action of the lipopeptide serrawettin W2-FL10, derived from Serratia marcescens. This lipopeptide targets the cell membrane of S. aureus, causing lesions which result in the leakage of intracellular components and ultimately cell death.

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Research reveals a shocking discovery about the history of our universe: the Milky Way Galaxy's last major collision occurred billions of years later than previously thought.

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In the first quintillionth of a second, the universe may have sprouted microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge, MIT physicists propose. The gravitational pull from these tiny, invisible objects could potentially explain all the dark matter that we can't see today.

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Tropical forests store a third of the world's carbon in their wood and soils. However, their future as a carbon sink has been uncertain. Scientists have long wondered whether nutrient-poor tropical soils would limit the ability of mature and recovering forests to thrive. A study offers a hopeful response, suggesting that forests have flexible strategies that help them overcome the challenge of scarce nutrients.

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Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers studied the properties of a planet-forming disk around a young and very low-mass star. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon composition seen to date in a protoplanetary disk, including the first extrasolar detection of ethane and a relatively low abundance of oxygen-bearing species. By including previous similar detections, this finding confirms a trend of disks around very low-mass stars to be chemically distinct from those around more massive stars like the Sun, influencing the atmospheres of planets forming there.

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They bedeviled ancient Greek navies, helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus, aided in the sinking of the Spanish Armada and caused the wharves in San Francisco Bay to collapse into the sea, but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly how shipworms -- a family of mollusks -- are able to cause such damage. A team of researchers has discovered that a population of symbiotic microbes, living in an overlooked sub-organ of the gut called the 'typhlosole,' have the ability to secrete the enzymes needed to digest lignin -- the toughest part of wood.

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Healthcare providers should watch out for new and highly contagious forms of ringworm or jock itch, which are emerging as a potential public health threat, according to a pair of reports.