Small Things Considered

An Eau de Microbe for Every Memory

by Janie  
It is terpenes like geosmin and many other molecules of microbial make that imbue so much of the world with scents. Commercial perfumes, too, are principally scented by terpenes and their derivatives and other molecules that are aromatic (aromatic both in the sense of... Read more →

Borgs in Archaea

by Mechas  
Microbes never cease to surprise, as should be evident to long-time STC readers. Now we are presented with a novel mechanism that allows archaea to expand their gene content and metabolic capacity. This unforeseen discovery also illustrates the importance not only of having the right tools (and funding) but also of being prepared to find the unexpected. Read more →

In Pieces: The Segmented Genome

by Janie  
"Segmented genome" is a term I had only heard ap­plied to vi­rus­es un­til re­cent­ly. It re­fers to genomes that con­sist of two or more mo­le­cules, a cha­rac­ter­is­tic that grants an evo­lu­tion­ary ad­van­tage: when mul­tiple vi­rus­es in­fect the same un­for­tu­nate cell, these dif­ferent frag­ments can be mixed and mat­ched to ge­ner­ate new, re­as­sort­ed genomes. Read more →

Macrolides from Mollusks, Not Microbes?

by Janie  
Last year, we covered the microbiological implications of feather pigments in parrots, touching on an unexpected polyketide synthase (PKS) active in an animal rather than a microbe or plant. Now, a redux of animal polyketides! This episode of molecules from unexpected places takes place undersea, starring the clam. Read more →

It Takes tRNAs to Tango: How Phages Outsmart Their Hosts

by Rafael Pinilla-Redondo  
Have you ever wondered what goes on inside a bacterium when it's attacked by a phage? Imagine an epic battle between two armies, like in "The Lord of the Rings" but seen through a microscope. On the one hand, valiant phages try to assault, replicate, and spread to neighboring cells; and on the other, host defenses strive to thwart and contain the tiny invaders. Read more →

Molecular Fossils of Microbial Interactions

by Einat Segev  
Microbes have inhabited our planet for many millions of years. While thriving and dying in almost every niche on Earth, microbes leave behind relics, and some of these relics remain preserved in the geological record. Many cell components are rapidly degraded and do not persist but remains that do are like archives of ancient microbial life. Read more →

Luciferin in Scintillons at Sea

by Janie 
Summer through au­tumn is the time of year for ma­rine di­no­fla­gel­lates' famed light fes­ti­vals. If the con­di­tions are just right, the roll of an ocean wave or the push of a ka­yak paddle or the sway of your legs as you wade in deep­er is enough to set the wa­ters... Read more →

An antibiotic honeycomb

by Manuel Sánchez  
Atomic force mi­cros­co­py (AFM) is one of the most pow­er­ful tools in stu­dy­ing the sur­fac­es of any ma­ter­ial. So it should come as no sur­prise that it has been used in the stu­dy of vi­ral en­vel­op­es and bio­lo­gi­cal mem­branes. One of its great ad­van­tages... Read more →

Once more: I → Y → II ?

by Christoph
In part 1, I looked at Bi­fi­do­bac­ter­ium bi­fi­dum to see if the oc­ca­sion­al­ly ob­served Y-shape of these bac­ter­ia gives any hint on their mode of cell di­vis­ion ─ may­be long­i­tu­di­nal di­vi­sion? No, there is no tan­gible clue that they di­vi­de by split­ting their Y zip­per-like be­tween the "arms". Here now I ask the same... Read more →

I → Y → II ?

by Christoph
Don't worry, STC won't switch to cu­nei­form without warning. What va­gue­ly re­sem­bles a chemi­cal for­mu­la or a cu­nei­form text is meant to keep the title as short as pos­sible. More verbose: I will take a clos­er look at Y-shap­ed bac­te­r­ia to see if their "ir­re­gu­lar" shape points to their mode of cell di­vi­sion... Read more →