Category: ecology

Microbes secrete antimicrobial compounds at stationary phase to better compete for scarce nutrients

April 4, 2024

Stationary phase refers to the growth phase there is an equilibrium between cell death and cell division. Thus, cell numbers are approximately constant during stationary phase. In many microbial species, many natural products such as antibiotics and antimicrobials are secreted during stationary phase. Given the energy intensive nature in which such natural products are synthesized, … More Microbes secrete antimicrobial compounds at stationary phase to better compete for scarce nutrients

CRISPR-Cas13 mediated anti-viral defence induce dormancy in bacteria that reduce spread of bacteriophage and protects the bacterial population

June 22, 2020

Cluster regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is a bacterial adaptive immune system that has been adapted for genome editing purposes. However, much remains to be understood in the native role of CRISPR as a defense mechanism against foreign DNA or RNA. Specifically, the system encodes small snippets of viral DNA in the genome of … More CRISPR-Cas13 mediated anti-viral defence induce dormancy in bacteria that reduce spread of bacteriophage and protects the bacterial population

Whole genome sequencing as an emerging methodology for microbial phylogenetics

April 3, 2020

Similar in size, shape, and colony morphology, it has been a challenge to uniquely identify and classify individual microbial species. Thus, microbiologists added metabolism, biochemistry and nutritional requirements to the list of criteria for microbial classification and taxonomy. However, the available metabolic and morphological cues could not satisfy the need to individually identify and classify … More Whole genome sequencing as an emerging methodology for microbial phylogenetics

Ribosomal proteins could explain the phylogeny of bacterial species at the genus level

February 29, 2020

Ribosomal proteins constitute the ribosome and are thus highly conserved. However, recent studies have shown that there is substantial variability in the sequence of ribosomal proteins that translate to possible differentiated structure and function of ribosomes. Thus, while highly conserved, ribosomal proteins possess sufficient sequence variation to enable the chronicle of evolutionary forces that shape … More Ribosomal proteins could explain the phylogeny of bacterial species at the genus level

Multiple levels of abstraction in biology

January 8, 2020

Biology spans multiple levels of organization from molecules to organelles and cells to tissues and organs, and finally, organisms and ecosystems. Thus, different spatial and temporal scales are involved in understanding both macroscopic and microscopic biological processes. Such understanding typically would require the use of different concepts of abstraction in gaining a reduced model understanding … More Multiple levels of abstraction in biology

Anti-CRISPR proteins protect bacteriophages during infection of bacteria

August 9, 2018

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats) is an adaptive immune system that protects bacteria and archaea against viruses and foreign DNA. Specifically, CRISPR and CRISPR associated proteins do constant surveillance of the cell’s cytoplasm for foreign DNA. Once detected, CRISPR-Cas would bind to the foreign DNA and activate an endonuclease system for cleaving the … More Anti-CRISPR proteins protect bacteriophages during infection of bacteria

Colourless agar for enhancing colour contrast between microbial colonies and agar

February 27, 2018

Small microbial colonies on agar could be hard to discern if the background colour of the agar is close to that of the colonies. This pose a significant problem for both manual and automated identification of microbial colonies. By separately sterilizing glucose and ammonium compounds, a recent study developed a colourless agar that enhanced the … More Colourless agar for enhancing colour contrast between microbial colonies and agar