Replication, transcription and translation achieve fidelity through hydrogen bonding at all stages except for the critical charging of tRNA with their cognate amino acid by dedicated amino acyl tRNA synthetases. Can you envision the evolution of a... Read more →
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Fungomania 3. Farming and Alcohol
by Elio — Alcohol and farming do not often go together, unless you think of beetles. In certain species, ethanol is used to increase the fruit of their labor, which sounds good but requires an explanation. Read more →
Fungomania 2. Hyphal Comings and Goings
by Elio — Until a few decades ago, mushrooms were thought of being some kind of plants. We now know that they belong to their own kingdom, the Mycota (or: Fungi). They typically consist of caps and stems that arise from a microscopic network residing underground or in rotting trees. Read more →
Fungomania 1. Who's The Biggest?
by Elio — Anyone can freely claim bragging rights for their favorite topic, but with caution. In this light, the assertion that a mushroom growing in either Michigan or Oregon is both the largest and oldest living thing is questionable. Read more →
The Vicissitudes of a Talmudic Question
by Elio — When we try to construct a Talmudic Question, we are concerned with the accuracy of the premise and ensuring that an answer has not been previously provided. We were toying with this one: “Bacterial endosymbionts of insects have reduced genomes but, best we know, they have not exported some of their genes to the host cell nucleus (as organelles have)... Read more →
Blown Out of Proportion – The Role of ppGpp in Balanced Metabolism
by Elizabeth Mueller & Corey Westfall — Chocolate chip cookies are one of our guilty pleasures in the Levin Lab. They provide a satisfying, albeit unhealthy, avenue to celebrate success (or escape failure) in the lab. In addition to being warm, gooey, and delicious, a more practical attribute we appreciate is the scalability of the recipe: We can adjust the quantity of cookies we bake in proportion to our accomplishments or to the volume of ingredients... Read more →
Of Terms in Biology: Bacterial Fitness
by Elio — Broadly speaking, fitness in microbiology is the ability of microbes to thrive in a competitive environment. It is often determined by comparing the growth rate in a given environment of a mutant strain with that of its non-mutant isogenic relative. If the mutant is less fit, it will grow more slowly... Read more →
A Whiff of Taxonomy – Cycloclasticus
by Christoph — Whenever you stumble across the name of a bacterial species you've never heard of before you probably wonder what the heck that name wants to tell you. You're not alone, also microbiologists often scratch their heads. Sure, they are familiar with the venerable tradition in all of biology to name species according to the rules... Read more →