N-acetyl Cysteine Coated Gallium Particles Demonstrate High Potency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 SUMMARY: Antibiotic resistant bacterial infections are on the rise, especially in hospitals. One of the culprits is the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (POA1). Researchers are quickly running out of antibiotics to use against resistant strains. The problem has reached the point where colistin, a… Continue reading Using NAC Against Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria
Category: Inheritance 3: Mutations (HS)
Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
Serotonin as a link between the gut-brain-microbiome axis in autism spectrum disorders
Serotonin as a link between the gut-brain-microbiome axis in autism spectrum disorders SUMMARY: This paper reviews the studies looking at the connection between serotonin production, microbiome, and autism. The first two sections give some basic information on serotonin, its reuptake transporter, and the gut-brain connection. Sections three and four talk about changes in serotonin (either… Continue reading Serotonin as a link between the gut-brain-microbiome axis in autism spectrum disorders
All About Efflux Pumps
Bacterial Multidrug Efflux Pumps: Much More Than Antibiotic Resistance Determinants SUMMARY: Efflux pumps are found in all organisms; they play an important role in helping the cells pump out toxins, heavy metals, and in the case of antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotics! This article talks about how efflux pumps work, other ways that they are used… Continue reading All About Efflux Pumps
How Bacteria Genes Change with Dryness
Environmental filtering of bacterial functional diversity along an aridity gradient SUMMARY: Genes of soil bacteria sampled in the Tibetan Plateau showed that as the environment got drier, the less diverse the genes were. Researchers wanted to compare bacterial gene diversity with the already-known diversity of genes in large animals in various environments. There were less… Continue reading How Bacteria Genes Change with Dryness
Cholera Biodiversity in Humans
Vibrio Cholerae genomic diversity within and between patients SUMMARY: Researchers looked at 122 samples of cholera in 8 different cholera patients; five were from Bangladesh and three were from Haiti. They found that the cholera bacteria genomes were different in water versus the human gut; one particularly interesting mutation was that the bacteria stopped forming… Continue reading Cholera Biodiversity in Humans
Naked Chickens?
Accelerated evolution of 3'avian FOXE1 genes, and thyroid and feather specific expression of chicken FoxE1 SUMMARY: The FOXE1 gene codes for a transcription factor (a protein that controls transcription, and thus protein production, in a cell). This transcription factor has been found in a lot of different types of animals and is responsible for a… Continue reading Naked Chickens?