The team say their findings have implications for the treatment of viruses in future. Researchers from the Universities of York and Leeds, collaborating with the Hilvert Laboratory at the ETH Zürich, studied the structure, assembly and evolution of a ‘container’ composed of a bacterial enzyme. The study – published in the journal Science – details the structural transformation of these virus-like particles into larger protein ‘containers’. It also reveals that packaging of the genetic cargo in these containers becomes more…
Biochemists discover highly selective phage activation based on signal molecule. Bacteriophages are still a relatively unknown component of the human microbiome. However, they can play a powerful role in the life cycles of bacteria. Biochemist Thomas Böttcher from the University of Vienna and PhD student Magdalena Jancheva were able to show for the first time how Pseudomonas bacteria use a self-produced signal molecule to selectively manipulate phages in a competing bacterial strain to defeat their enemy. This targeted control of…
Meiosis is a specialized cell division process required to generate gametes, the reproductive cells of an organism. During meiosis, paternal and maternal chromosomes duplicate, pair, and exchange parts of their DNA in a process called meiotic recombination. In order to mediate this exchange of genetic material, cells introduce double strand breaks (DSBs) into their chromosomal DNA. Scientists from the lab of Franz Klein from the Department of Chromosome Biology at the Max Perutz Labs, a joint venture of the University…
Implications for brain repair… Neurons, nerve cells in the brain, are central players in brain function. However, a key role for glia, long considered support cells, is emerging. A research group at the University of Basel has now discovered two new types of glial cells in the brain, by unleashing adult stem cells from their quiescent state. These new types of glia may play an important role in brain plasticity and repair. The brain is malleable well into adulthood. Brain…
A new study conducted by the researchers at the University of Liverpool reveals how the ancient photosynthetic organisms – cyanobacteria – evolve their photosynthetic machinery and organise their photosynthetic membrane architecture for the efficient capture of solar light and energy transduction. Oxygenic photosynthesis, carried out by plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, produces energy and oxygen for life on Earth and is arguably the most important biological process. Cyanobacteria are among the earliest phototrophs that can perform oxygenic photosynthesis and make significant…
Through the biological fixation of the element nitrogen by the enzyme nitrogenase, organisms gain access to molecular nitrogen (N2) in the Earth‘s atmosphere, which is essential for building cellular structures. In addition, a vanadium-dependent variant of nitrogenase can reduce the toxic gas carbon monoxide (CO) to hydrocarbons. These reductions of N2 and CO are among the most important processes in industrial chemistry, as they are used to produce both fertilizers and synthetic fuels. However, researchers have not yet been able…
Small pieces of plastic are everywhere, stretching from urban environments to pristine wilderness. Left to their own devices, it can take hundreds of years for them to degrade completely. Catalysts activated by sunlight could speed up the process, but getting these compounds to interact with microplastics is difficult. In a proof-of-concept study, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces developed self-propelled microrobots that can swim, attach to plastics and break them down. While plastic products are omnipresent indoors, plastic…
Collaboration between TU Darmstadt, British and US universities. Research teams from TU Darmstadt, British and US universities are focusing on one possible main process that leads to the death of brain cells – chemical reactions between different proteins in the brain and essential metals such as copper and iron – in their investigation of the causes and mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. Their results are published in “Science Advances”. Alzheimer’s disease causes tremendous loss of life years and life quality. Tens…
Sponges promote a high diversity… Deep down in the ocean, valuable raw materials are stored, such as nodules of manganese, iron, cobalt and copper. The resources from these nodules could help meeting our increasing demand for rare metals. However, in addition to the nodules, there is another treasure down there: A complex ecosystem that we still barely know and understand. Researchers from Bremen and the Netherlands have now discovered that sponges, which like to settle on the metallic nodules, also…
In a new study, an international team of plant researchers including the Institute of Botany at Technische Universität Dresden has discovered an unusual and previously unknown reproductive strategy in plants: the Greek pipevine species ‘Aristolochia microstoma’ produces a unique mixture of volatiles that resembles the smell of dead and decaying insects to attract the pollinating fly genus ‘Megaselia’ (also known as ‘coffin flies’) to its trap-flowers. The study was recently published in the open-access journal ‘Frontiers’. Plants use numerous mechanisms…
Proliferating cells are in constant need of ribosomes, the molecular machines that help them produce proteins. Tumour cells, for instance, divide quickly and strongly rely on ribosome production to maintain their growth. A team of scientists has visualised a novel mechanism that inhibits the production of ribosomes in yeast. Their results, now published in the journal Nature Communications, could be used to develop novel classes of inhibitors to target cancer cells. Proteins are the essence of life: they give structure…
The “miracle of life” is most obvious at the very beginning: When the fertilized egg cell divides by means of furrows into blastomeres, envelops itself in an amniotic sac, and unfolds to form germ layers. When the blastomeres begin to differentiate into different cells – and when they eventually develop into a complete organism. “We wanted to find out whether the later differences between the various cells are already partly hard-wired into the fertilized egg cell,” says Dr. Jan Philipp…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing and the Cluster of Excellence for Ageing Research CECAD at the University of Cologne have discovered folate metabolism as a fundamental process for ageing. Its regulation underlies many known ageing signaling pathways and leads to longevity. This could provide a new opportunity to improve human health during ageing on a broad basis. Fundamental signalling pathway is crucial for longevity Several different causes of ageing have been discovered, but the question…
Research team led by the University of Göttingen develops new strategy for labelling peptides. Biomolecules regulate the biological functions inside every living cell. If scientists can understand the molecular mechanisms of such functions, then it is possible to detect the severe dysfunction which can lead to illness. At a molecular level, this can be achieved with fluorescent markers that are specifically incorporated into the respective biomolecules. In the past, this has been achieved by incorporating a marker in the biomolecule…
The cut and restore protein trick. Proteins are the key players in our cellular processes. Their generation follows principles called transcription and translation. First, DNA copies its genetic information to messenger RNA (mRNA), which then determines the sequence in a chain of amino acids, which finally fold into a protein. The reality, however, is more complex: More than 90 per cent of our genes do not result in only one mRNA and then one protein, but a process called alternative…
In the Kumano Sea, off the southeast coast of Japan, an evolutionary mystery lay in wait. Researchers collected samples from the muddy sea floor, including hermit crabs, mollusks and discarded shells. Here, in and on these shells, they found scale worms living mostly in pairs with a striking difference compared to the almost 900 already known species of scale worms: one was a quarter the size of its mate. The discovery was published on March 29 as the cover of…
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