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Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Environmental: Ecosystems

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Scientists have identified the genes in the probiotic Bifidobacteria longum responsible for improving gut motility. A research team found that B. longum strains possessing the abfA cluster of genes can ameliorate constipation through enhanced utilization of an indigestible fiber called arabinan in the gut.

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The deep sea is home to one of the largest animal communities on earth which is increasingly exposed to environmental pressures. However, our knowledge of its inhabitants and their response to human-induced stressors is still limited. A new study now provides first insights into the stress response of a pelagic deep-sea jellyfish to ocean warming and sediment plumes caused by deep-sea mining.

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A new analysis sheds light on the molecular processes involved when a carnivorous species of fungus known as Arthrobotrys oligospora senses, traps and consumes a worm.

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Scientists have discovered that bacteria can create something like memories about when to form strategies that can cause dangerous infections in people, such as resistance to antibiotics and bacterial swarms when millions of bacteria come together on a single surface. The discovery -- which has potential applications for preventing and combatting bacterial infections and addressing antibiotic-resistant bacteria -- relates to a common chemical element bacterial cells can use to form and pass along these memories to their progeny over later generations.  

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Forest modeling shows that a site's productivity -- an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate -- is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration.

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Concerted action is required to mitigate the impact of warming on polar ecosystems and sustainably manage these unique habitats.  

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Worldwide, coastal river deltas are home to more than half a billion people, supporting fisheries, agriculture, cities, and fertile ecosystems. In a unique study covering 49 deltas globally, researchers have identified the most critical risks to deltas in the future. The research shows that deltas face multiple risks, and that population growth and poor environmental governance might pose bigger threats than climate change to the sustainability of Asian and African deltas, in particular.

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The microbiome (the symbiotic community of microbial organisms of a host) is of existential importance for the functioning of every plant and animal, including human beings. A research team has now used the example of the sea anemone Nematostella vectenis to investigate how the microbiome develops together with the host. The researchers describe that the bacterial community is primarily controlled by the host organism during the early stages of life, while bacteria-bacteria interactions play the lead role in subsequent development.

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Biological materials are made of individual components, including tiny motors that convert fuel into motion. This creates patterns of movement, and the material shapes itself with coherent flows by constant consumption of energy. Such continuously driven materials are called 'active matter'. The mechanics of cells and tissues can be described by active matter theory, a scientific framework to understand shape, flows, and form of living materials. The active matter theory consists of many challenging mathematical equations. Scientists have now developed an algorithm, implemented in an open-source supercomputer code, that can for the first time solve the equations of active matter theory in realistic scenarios. These solutions bring us a big step closer to solving the century-old riddle of how cells and tissues attain their shape and to designing artificial biological machines.

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Feeding dogs raw (uncooked) meat increases their risk of excreting E. coli that cannot be killed by a widely used antibiotic -- ciprofloxacin -- researchers have found from a study of 600 healthy pet dogs.

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Researchers have determined the gene mutation responsible for an observable trait in bison -- albinism.

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Researchers have uncovered startling connections between micronutrient deficiencies and the composition of gut microbiomes in early life that could help explain why resistance to antibiotics has been rising across the globe. The team investigated how deficiencies in crucial micronutrients such as vitamin A, B12, folate, iron, and zinc affected the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes that live in the digestive system. They discovered that these deficiencies led to significant shifts in the gut microbiome of mice -- most notably an alarming expansion of bacteria and fungi known to be opportunistic pathogens. Importantly, mice with micronutrient deficiencies also exhibited a higher enrichment of genes that have been linked to antibiotic resistance.

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Unlike humans, zebrafish can completely regenerate their hearts after injury. They owe this ability to the interaction between their nervous and immune systems, as researchers now report.

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Algae living within the soft tissue of coral supply much of the energy needed by their hosts, and some symbiotic algae help coral withstand warmer water better than others. Researchers have now found that there was a tradeoff for corals dominated by the thermally sensitive algae -- they have higher growth, but only in cooler water.

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Researchers have rediscovered and successfully cultivating Rhabdamoeba marina -- a rare marine amoeba that has only been reported in two cases in the past century. Using this culture strain, they performed a comprehensive analysis of its genetic sequence, revealing for the first time the phylogenetic position of this enigmatic amoeba, and proposed a novel taxonomic classification based on their research findings.

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Microbial communities are thought to contain keystone species, which can disproportionately affect the stability of the communities, even if only present in low abundances. Identifying these keystone species can be challenging, especially in the human gut, since it is not feasible to isolate them through systematic elimination. Researchers have designed a new data-driven keystone species identification (DKI) framework that uses machine learning to resolve this difficulty. 

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Researchers have discovered a 'genomic tug of war' in animal studies that could influence how well certain patients -- or certain cancers -- respond to decitabine, a drug used to treat myelodysplastic syndromes that is plagued by drug resistance issues. For the first time, researchers show that decitabine causes coding and non-coding regions of DNA to engage in a tug of war for a gene activator, called H2A.Z. Typically, deticabine draws this gene activator away from coding DNA, causing gene expression to grind to a halt and cells to die. However, many types of cancer have very high levels of H2A.Z, which may help them overcome this decitabine-induced tug of war, allowing the cancer to grow.

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A new theoretical model helps explain how epigenetic memories, encoded in chemical modifications of chromatin, are passed from generation to generation.  Within each cell's nucleus, researchers suggest, the 3D folding patterns of its genome determines which parts of the genome will be marked by these chemical modifications.

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Researchers take a look at data that has so far been mostly discarded as contamination, revealing the previously underestimated role of extracellular vesicles (EVs). These are important for the exchange of genetic information between cells and thus for the microbial community in the sea.

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Natural carbon reservoirs will play a major role at the COP28 world climate conference in the United Arab Emirates. In a recent study, a team of more than two hundred researchers worldwide presents new estimates of the storage potential of forests around the globe. According to the study, forests could ideally absorb 328 billion tons (gigatons, Gt for short) of carbon. However, as many formerly forested areas are now used for agriculture and as settlement areas, the potential is reduced to 226 Gt. 139 Gt of this (61%) could be achieved by protecting existing forests alone. The remaining 87 Gt (39%) could be realized by reconnecting previously fragmented forest landscapes and managing them sustainably.