by Elio — My first lecture (in 1958, long ago) was to medical students and the subject was DNA. I felt privileged to be given the task to talk about this subject, which was born in its modern incarnation not many years earlier. Read more →
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Replay : A Close Encounter of the Enological Kind
by John Ingraham — Early in my career, by good fortune, I encountered the malolactic fermentation. Investigating it by standard microbiological methods led to results that changed the way California red wines are made, for the better most agree. How satisfying it is to think that I was following in the footsteps of Pasteur, no less, and his early career... Read more →
Small (and Large) Numbers Considered
by Roberto — It can be both fun and instructive to play with numbers that give us some sense of the microbial world. Consider, if you will, some of the following examples… Read more →
Rounding up the Honey Bees (2)
by Christoph — Glyphosate is a competitive inhibitor of the shikimate pathway that microbes and plants use for the synthesis of three aromatic amino acids (Trp,Phe,Tyr) and their derivatives. In E. coli, formation of EPSP from S3P and PEP is catalyzed by the AroA enzyme (EPSPS=EPSP synthase). Glyphosate competes with PEP for binding to EPSP synthase in a concentration-dependent... Read more →
Talmudic Question #159
Where on Earth would you expect to find the most varied microbiome (in terms of different taxa per gram) ? Read more →
Rounding up the Honey Bees (1)
by Christoph — Why would I deviate here from STC's habit to rather not feature the newest results of trendy research topics? The reason comes hidden in a short notice in Science by Warren Cornwall:"...The new research is certain to make a controversial herbicide even more of a flashpoint." He referred, of course, to a recent paper published in PNAS... Read more →
State of the World's Fungi
by Roberto — We want to bring to your attention an outstanding new report on fungi from the Kew Royal Botanic Garden. It makes for great reading and clearly points out the many roles that fungi play on the functioning of Earth's biosphere. Read more →
Needles in a Metagenomic Haystack: Hunting for Molecular Plastic-Chewers
by Janie Kim — Science and speculative fiction works may warn of imminent threats like hostile extraterrestrial beings or the artificial general intelligence of the technological singularity. But the more humdrum overabundance of plastic waste, an issue closer to home and our everyday lives, is just as deserving of fear. Read more →