Finely tuned WspRs help bacteria beat body by building biofilm

User rating: 2.7 / 5 after 3 vote(s)

Tetrameric assembly of the response regulator diguanylate cyclase WspR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The inset shows a close-up of cyclic di-GMP bound to the inhibitory site. Credit: Holger Sondermann et. al
Tetrameric assembly of the response regulator diguanylate cyclase WspR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The inset shows a close-up of cyclic di-GMP bound to the inhibitory site. Credit: Holger Sondermann, et. al

Bacteria are particularly harmful to human health when they band together to form a biofilm—a sheet composed of many individual bacteria glued together—because this can allow them to escape from both antibiotics and the immune system of their host. It is thought that most chronic infections are caused by bacterial biofilms, and a paper published in this week’s PLoS Biology explores the signalling system that causes bacteria to team up in this way.


Full story »
All News summaries from General Science news
All News summaries for March 25, 2008

Make your own microfluidic device with new kit from U-M

12 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
A type of device called a "lab-on-a-chip" could bring a new generation of instant home tests for illnesses, food contaminants and toxic gases. But today these portable, efficient tools are often stuck in the lab themselves. ...

Unknown insects found in 110-million-year-old amber in Spain

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
The remains of several unknown insect species which became extinct long before dinosaurs stopped roaming the earth have been discovered in pieces of 110-million-year-old amber found in Spain, researchers said ...

Economists' new research shows positive effects of minimum-wage increases

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- As various states consider minimum wage increases, and with Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama proposing that the minimum wage be increased and indexed to adjust for cost-of-living increases, researchers ...

Study: No gender differences in math performance

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
We've all heard it. Many of us in fact believe it. Girls just aren't as good at math as boys. But is it true? After sifting through mountains of data - including SAT results and math scores from 7 million students who were ...

Plant steroids offer new paradigm for how hormones work

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Steroids bulk up plants just as they do human athletes, but the playbook of molecular signals that tell the genes to boost growth and development in plant cells is far more complicated than in human and animal cells. A new ...
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive