Small Things Considered

Pictures Considered #48 : Contributions to the Biology of the Bacilli

by Roberto
It was fifteen or twenty years ago, I can't recall the year any more. But I vividly remember walking into Harvard's Farlow Botany Library, being shown to a seat next to an elegant wooden table, and asked to don a pair of white gloves. The protocol stemmed from the fact that I had requested to see an original of the second volume of the journal Beiträge zur Biologie der Pflanzen (Contributions to the Biology of Plants), from 1876. Read more →

Stay Away, Stay Away – There Is Danger Ahead

by Elio
In ancient times, persons suffering from a dreaded disease believed to be contagious, such as leprosy, were given a bell to ring and thus noisily announce their presence. Healthy people could then move away and try to avoid contact.  Amazingly, bacteria use an analogous strategy. Read more →

Talmudic Question #173

Can you envisage a Winogradsky column consisting of only Gram-negative bacteria (or just Gram-positives, for that matter)? Read more →

A Simple Decision

by Manuel Sanchez
The story to be told here is about how a 'data' biologist had to 'put on his lab coat' to solve a problem of a 'boot biologist.' In 1906 the American zoo­logist Herbert Spencer Jennings conducted an experiment with the protozoan Stentor roeseli to determine how it reacted to an irritant stimulus. S. roeseli is a sessile, trumpet-shaped protozoan. Read more →

Of Terms in Biology: The Exome

by Elio
An exome is the collection of exons, the sequences within the primary mRNA transcripts of an organism that are eventually used for making proteins. The rest, non-coding sequences, called introns, are removed by RNA splicing. (Note that there is no ‘introme,’ at least not yet.)
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TWiM 211: Bacteria, colon cancer and fire blight

The oldest osteosynthesis in history, and how a small molecule produced by stressed bacteria is a warning signal that repels healthy populations to promote their survival. Read more →

How to Swim Through Goo: Lessons from a Microbial Menagerie

by Janie
One of my favorite childhood book/TV se­ries was The Ma­gic School Bus, which fol­lows quir­ky sci­ence tea­cher Ms. Frizzle and her class in their ma­gic school bus as they go on field trips to outer space, through the food chain, or in­side the hu­man bo­dy. I espe­cial­ly liked the epi­sode in which the class shrinks down to the mi­cro­sco­pic le­vel... Read more →

Where Do Phages of Atypical Bacteria Come From? A Snippet.

by Elio
Some time ago, a piece in this blog dealt with the com­ple­xi­ties of the Gram stain. In brief, it said: "In a simp­ler world, all bac­te­ria with a single mem­brane, the mono­derms, would be Gram-po­si­tive, all those with two (the di­derms), Gram-ne­ga­tive... Hah! Were it that simple! Each of these groups... Read more →

TWiM 210: The Waze of microbes

The oldest osteosynthesis in history, and how a small molecule produced by stressed bacteria is a warning signal that repels healthy populations to promote their survival. Read more →

A Whiff of Taxonomy – Saltatorellus ferox, again...

by Christoph
In a follow-up of the pre­vi­ous post on Sal­ta­to­rel­lus fe­rox, and its un­usual way of cell di­vi­sion and cel­lu­lar move­ment, I'm going to take a clo­ser look here at its chro­mo­so­me rep­li­ca­tion and se­gre­ga­tion. Read more →