Phylogenomic analysis of the cystatin superfamily in eukaryotes and prokaryotes Nov 18, 2009
Our aim has been to obtain a comprehensive insight into their origin, distribution, diversity, evolution and classification in Eukaryota, Bacteria and Archaea. Results. (BioMed Central)
Biologists rally to sequence 'neglected' microbes Nov 18, 2009
Enter the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea, a project spearheaded by the US Department of Energy s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in Walnut Creek, California, which aims to sequence the genomes of another thousand or so microbes ... The Ten Thousand Microbial Genomes Project, launched in August by the Beijing Genomics Institute-Shenzhen, plans to create full genome maps for 10,000 strains but fewer species of bacteria, archaea, fungi, algae and viruses from a broad range of... (Scientific American)
SIU faculty gets $2.6M in stimulus grants Oct 22, 2009
Ramesh Gupta, professor and chair of biochemistry and molecular biology, RNA Splicing in Archaea, $118,059. William Halford, associate professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology, Development of an Effective Genital Herpes Vaccine, $400,125. (St. Louis Business Journal, MO)
Deep-sea Microbes: Nitrogen Mystery Solved? Oct 17, 2009
The second is a methane-oxidizing archaeon (the archaea are a group of nonbacterial single-celled microorganisms) ... Although these symbiotic associations themselves are not new these conglomerations were discovered about a decade ago and are found on continental margins worldwide the Caltech scientists discovered something unexpected: the methane-consuming archaea were actively fixing nitrogen, and sharing it with their bacterial neighbors ... "This is the first time that nitrogen fixation has... (Science Daily)
Unraveling the Ribosome: Chemistry Nobel Awarded to Modelers of Living Cells' Protein-Maker Oct 8, 2009
Yonath showed this was possible by building crystals filled with ribosomes from heat-loving bacteria and salt-loving archaea as well as stabilizing the crystals by putting them at very-low temperatures. Steitz then made the first high-resolution images of the ribosome in 1998, refining the technique until it reached the level of atomic detail. (Scientific American)
Glow-in-the-dark mushrooms discovered Oct 6, 2009
(Simple bacteria and archaea, which lack a cell nucleus, are considered prokaryotes. . (MSNBC -- Environment)
Cell's Split Personality: Synthetic Circuits Oct 5, 2009
Understanding A Cell's Split Personality Aids Synthetic Circuits. Understanding A Cell's Split Personality Aids Synthetic Circuits. (Science Daily)
Planet's Nitrogen Cycle Overturned By 'Tiny Ammonia Eater Of The Seas' Oct 1, 2009
The findings, published online September 30 in the journal Nature, show that these microorganisms, members of ancient lineage called archaea, beat out all other marine life in the race for ammonia ... "Archaea are capable of stealing the ammonia from other organisms and turning it into nitrate. Then it's the phytoplankton that take up that nitrate once again." ... The new paper also shows that archaea can scavenge nitrogen-containing ammonia in the most barren environments of the deep sea,... (Science Daily)
Molecular Evidence To Support Evolu... Sep 19, 2009
As cells go, a eukaryote, or single cell organism, possesses a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles, in contrast to prokaryotes, such as bacteria and archaea, which do not. The first eukaryotes had simple core machines created by importing pre-existing proteins. (Suite101.com)
(High window on the past) Sep 18, 2009
Tolar Grande is more acidic, at pH 5, and its stromatolites contain a narrower range of diatom species, along with archaea and gamma-proteobacteria. Stromatolites are not only an important window onto the past; they can also provide clues as to how organisms might cope today, the researchers say. (Scientific American)
Phobos-Grunt Probe to Put Microbial Life in Mars Orbit Sep 2, 2009
Rounding out the group are three species of archaea sometimes called "extremophiles" for their ability to thrive in conditions too harsh for other Earth life along with yeast, plant seeds, and a soil sample collected from Israel's Negev Desert. Most of the samples will be freeze-dried and inert for the trip, to better resist the cold of space. (Scientific American)
Tough Microbe Has The Right Stuff for Mars Jul 19, 2009
M. barkeri belongs to the Archaea domain of life, the same as many of the in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. Not an extremophile, per se, M. barkeri is extreme in its compatibility. (Yahoo News -- Technology)
Surprising New Insights Into The Repair Strategies Of DNA Jul 17, 2009
Like cancer cells, archaea are polyploid which means they contain more than two sets of chromosomes. Although similar in structure and appearance to bacteria, archaea share a common ancestor with eukaryotes, which include plant and animals ... This kinship is at its closest in the way archaea process DNA. Although Dr Allers s discovery is at the basic biological level, it is the similarities with cancer cells that make him convinced that scientists have much more to learn from archaea. (Science Daily)
Core Nuclear Pore Elements Likely Shared By All Eukaryotes Jul 14, 2009
9, 2004) According to a new report, complex cells like those in the human body probably resulted from the fusion of genomes from an ancient bacterium and a simpler microbe, Archaea, best known for its ability. (Jan. (Science Daily)
Methane-eating Microbes Use Oxides To 'Breathe' Jul 10, 2009
It might be one bacteria or archaea species, or it may be a consortium of microbes. She is trying to identify the organisms responsible. (Science Daily)
Methane-producing Molecule Can Also Repair DNA Jul 4, 2009
ScienceDaily (July 3, 2009) The Archaea are single-celled organisms and a domain unto themselves, quite apart from the so called eukaryotes (bacteria and higher organisms) ... Methanogenic archaeans, for example, can produce methane gas out of carbon dioxide and hydrogen ... The archaeal cofactor F0 is a light-harvesting antenna chromophore in eukaryotes. (Science Daily)
Nickel isotope may be methane producing microbe biomarker Jun 23, 2009
For this work the researchers did not look at ancient fossil cells, but grew modern day archaea in the laboratory, controlling their habitat and recording their rate of methane production. Archaea are single cell microorganisms similar to bacteria but with different evolutionary histories and biochemical pathways ... However, isotopic analyses of pure cultures of three archaea -- Methanosarcina barkeri, Methanosarcina acetivorans and Methanococcus jannaschii -- showed that all the archaea... (EurekAlert!)
Bacterial Biofilms Cities of Slim... Jun 22, 2009
Biofilms can contain many different types of microorganism, e.g. bacteria, archaea, protozoa, fungi and algae; each group performing specialized metabolic functions. However, some organisms will form monospecies (single species) films under certain conditions. (Suite101.com)
Geographic Isolation Drives Evolution Of Hot Springs Microbe May 29, 2009
S. islandicus belongs to the archaea, a group of single-celled organisms that live in a variety of habitats including some of the most forbidding environments on the planet. Once lumped together with bacteria, archaea are now classified as a separate domain of life ... "Archaea are really different from bacteria as different from bacteria as we are," said University of Illinois microbiology professor Rachel Whitaker, who led the study. (Science Daily)
Key Events In Evolutionary History Revealed In Protein Structure Study Mar 17, 2009
This explosion of new forms coincided with the rapidly increasing diversity of the three superkingdoms of life (bacteria; the microbes known as archaea; and eucarya, the group that includes animals, plants, fungi and many other organisms). Lead author Gustavo Caetano-Anoll;s, a professor of bioinformatics in the department of crop sciences at the University of Illinois and an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology, has spent years studying protein structures he calls them "architectures"... (Science Daily)
Billions Of Years Ago, Microbes Were Key In Developing Modern Nitrogen Cycle Mar 4, 2009
The microbes that accomplished that feat are on the last, or terminal, branches of the bacteria and archaea domains of the so-called tree of life, and they are the only microbes capable of carrying out the step of adding oxygen to ammonia. The fact that they are on those terminal branches indicates that large-scale evolution of bacteria and archaea was complete about 2 ... "Countless bacteria and archaea species have evolved since then, but the major branches have held," said Buick, a UW... (Science Daily)
What's Killing The Coral Reefs? Feb 10, 2009
The chip is carpeted with thousands of probes that scour a sample for the unique DNA signatures of most known species in the phyla bacteria and archaea. Specifically, the probes bind with a gene, called 16S rRNA, which is present in all life. (Science Daily)
