Small Things Considered

Microbe, Enzyme or Mineral? A Riddle in the Soil

by Maddie Stone
When most people look at soil, they just see dirt. When I look at soil, I see billions of microorganisms crawling atop one another, consuming the dead in a feasting frenzy that stops for nothing save a deep freeze. I see microbes and their enzymes, the digestive juices that break… Read more →

Vacation

We are taking our customary two week vacation. Do you think we deserve it? See you June 30th. Read more →

TWiM #80: Hurling Fleas and Designer Chromosomes

Vincent, Elio, and Michele discuss how to synthesize a designer yeast chromosome, and deciphering the genetic changes path that allowed Yersinia pestis to be transmitted by fleas. Read more →

Of Terms in Biology: The Pan-Genome

by Christoph
A still somewhat unfamiliar term is floating around: the pan-genome. In 2005, Tettelin et al. coined the term along with genome analyses of eight Streptococcus agalactiae strains, and Merry introduced it to this blog, some time back already. Today, a keyword search in PubMed returns roughly 200 hits – 29 alone… Read more →

Microbes After Hours : The Microbiology of Cheese – Live Video Stream

Have you ever wondered why mozzarella bubbling and stretching between pizza slices is so different from the earthy flavors of blue-veined gorgonzola? The diversity of cheeses we love are created by encouraging and manipulating the growth of specific microbes. On Tuesday, June 10th starting at 6:45 p.m. ET, ASM will... Read more →

Retrospective, June 2014

As is our custom at this time of year, we go over the material that has appeared in this blog over the last six months. Seems like a lot of stuff, but it’s the result of the work of quite a number of dedicated people, all of whom deserve our gratitude. Read more →

A Snippet: Antibiotics In The Nursery

by Christoph
You have heard of the leaf-cutting ants that meticulously cultivate "their" fungi which provide them with nutrients, and that, in addition, host actinobacteria which prevent bacterial and fungal infections of their fungi as well as their own infection by an entomopathogenic fungus. No big surprise, other insects… Read more →

Retroviruses, the Placenta, and the Genomic Junk Drawer

by Jamie Henzy
By now, many of us are aware that a considerable portion (45% or more) of the human genome consists of transposable elements. These are mobile genetic sequences, such as Alu repeats and long and short interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs and SINEs). A whopping 18% of this so-called "dark matter… Read more →