Small Things Considered

A sprinkle of acid a day keeps the law enforcement away

by Aleks Prochera | Imagine you look like someone dangerous, a criminal, an enemy. Despite being an exemplary citizen, you have to deal with the possibility that, at one point or another, you might get in trouble with law enforcement simply because you appear threatening. That's a struggle that many bacterial members of a plant's microbiome face. Read more →

Must Read – Time to Cut Down the Tree of For-Profit Science Publishing

by Roberto | Here at STC we have covered the growing problems with the way that scientific publishing has evolved over the past few deca­des. Two instances come to mind, a conversation I held with George O'Toole and a recent praise of the eLife model as a step in the right direction to alleviate some of the problems. Our voices... Read more →

To grow or not to grow? That is the question!

by Roberto | What happens to bacterial populations as they transition from a state of rapid growth to little or no growth as a consequence of diminishing amounts of nutrients? It seems that every time this quest­ion is addressed in a new setting and/or a different species, some fas­cinating new features of bacterial adaptability are discovered. Read more →

TWiM #208: Georgia Tech microbial

At Georgia Tech, members and trainees of the Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection discuss the identification of pathogen essential genes during coinfections, and how coral management can improve coral defenses against pathogens. Read more →

The Continuing Saga of Insect-Associated Streptomyces

by Roberto | For some reason that I cannot really pinpoint, I am con­ti­nu­ally fascinated by the interactions that are continually discovered between insects and bacteria. Among some of my favorites are those that involve insects that carry bacteria that produce antimicrobial com­pounds that in turn provide a useful function for the insect.
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Flagella By the Tail

by Elio | We now know that the site of delivery of the phage DNA is not the flagellar filament but rather a region near its base. When the phage reaches it, it can deliver its DNA into the host, as demonstrated by the presence of empty (DNA-less) phage heads at the base of the flagellum. The whole thing takes less than 5 minutes. Read more →

A Whiff of Taxonomy – Zymomonas

by Elio | Zymomonas is a Gram-negative alphaproteobacterial genus with a single known species, Zymomonas mobilis that promise much but do not quite deliver, at least not yet. Read more →

TWiM #207: Partnerships to Advance Public Health

From ASM Microbe 2019 in San Francisco, Vincent speaks with Victoria McGovern, Carl Nathan, and Dan Portnoy about advancing human health through innovative collaborations. Read more →

Strawberry Fields Forever

by Mechas Zambrano and Roberto | Close your eyes for a mo­ment and ima­gine your­self in front of a plate full of fresh­ly picked, bright red, fra­grant, ripe, and sweet straw­ber­ries. For most of you, that should be a tru­ly "mouth water­ing" ex­per­i­ence. If you do en­joy straw­ber­ries, you are part of a long and wide­spread plea­sure that goes back mil­len­nia through the eat­ing of wild straw­berry spe­cies... Read more →

Talmudic Question #170

Why is RNA replication limited to the viruses and viroids? Read more →