Science is difficult for even its researchers to understand. Science journalists must understand scientific discoveries well enough to write clear, accurate explanations of scientific discoveries for laypeople. A sense of ethical judgment will help journalists ensure that their accounts are reliable and appropriate. Responsible science journalists will maintain a working...
Fire blight is a serious disease of apple and pear trees caused by the bacterium, Erwinia amylovora. This bacterium harbors a pathogenesis mechanism known as the Hrp secretory operon which induces some resistance genes and suppresses other resistance genes in the host plant following invasion. While previous researchers analyzed expression...
High-throughput culturing (HTC) consisting of extinction culturing in autoclaved seawater has led to the isolation and characterization of many novel strains of oligotrophic marine bacteria. Strain HTCC 2207 was isolated from the Oregon coast by the HTC method. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that this strain...
In the fall of 2005, I studied abroad in Athens, Greece for one term. This is retelling of experiences that I had, written in the style of my memories. While I was in Greece, I kept an electronic diary, a picture diary, and a scrapbook to keep my memories vivid...
The Chlamydiaceae are a family of obligate intracellular bacteria with a unique biphasic developmental cycle. The replicating, metabolically active, intracellular phase bacteria (RBs) grow within a cellular vacuole know as the inclusion. Since the proteins the Chlamydiaceae secrete into this membrane are the means of host/parasite interaction, they have long...
Rhodococcus fascians is a Gram-positive, pleiomorphic actinomycete that causes leafy gall formation in a wide range of plant hosts. This particular phytopathogen has been a focus of research at the Oregon State University Plant Clinic, a diagnostic laboratory. Phylogeny of R. fascians isolates obtained from Plant Clinic submissions was determined...
The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa possesses two LuxR-LuxI
type quorum-sensing systems that use diffusible acyl-homoserine lactone molecules to
autoinduce and coordinate expression of multiple virulence factors. We conducted a highthroughput
screen for mutants deficient in skim-milk proteolysis—a quorum-sensing
dependent phenotype—using a nonredundant transposon-insertion library representing
most nonessential genes in P....
The Sortase A (SrtA) enzyme is a potential target for a new class of anti-infective drugs
because it is responsible for anchoring virulence factors to the surface of pathogenic,
Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. High throughput screening
yielded low molecular weight compounds that inhibit purified SrtA from S. aureus....
Phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) are novel antisense drugs in the early stages
of development. These synthetic DNA mimics contain the same bases found in DNA and anneal
to RNA in a complementary fashion. PMOs have been designed that target genes responsible for
producing essential proteins in organisms such as Escherichia...
Seed germination is strictly defined as the physiological events before radicle
protrusion through the endosperm cap, the endosperm region adjacent to the radicle tip.
There are two opposing forces governing seed germination: the growth potential of the
embryo and the mechanical resistance of the endosperm cap. The endosperm cap cell...
One of the roots of the global problem of HIV/AIDS is the shame associated with an HIV diagnosis. Because it can be transmitted sexually, HIV is stigmatized. Even though there are many routes of transmission that would not cause embarrassment, many times the public view is uncompassionate towards its victims,...
Myxozoa have been found worldwide; these parasites infect a wide variety of hosts, but have been found most often in fish. Carassius auratus (goldfish), a popular aquarium fish and a widespread invasive species, have been identified as an intermediate host for several myxozoan species. Some myxozoan parasites are pathogenic and...
A primary target of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the human alveolar macrophage.
Infection by this bacterium can lead to a variety of responses, such as apoptosis,
autophagy, and necrosis, which may be involved in controlling the infection. M.
tuberculosis has evolved mechanisms to evade or use the host-mediated processes to its...
Microbial activity within elevated CO2 and oxygen depleted environments changes with
density driven stratification overturn in the seasonally anoxic region of Devil’s Hole,
Bermuda. The temperature gradient developed during the summer months creates a
natural laboratory to study bacterial and virus population density and microbial
community dynamics in the anoxic...
Microbial activity within elevated CO2 and oxygen depleted environments changes with
density driven stratification overturn in the seasonally anoxic region of Devil’s Hole,
Bermuda. The temperature gradient developed during the summer months creates a
natural laboratory to study bacterial and virus population density and microbial
community dynamics in the anoxic...
Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr) is the fungal causal agent of the disease tan spot in wheat and causes necrosis and chlorosis in infected leaves. These symptoms are caused by host-selective toxins (HSTs), molecules that serve as the sole determinants of pathogenicity. Ptr has three known HSTs, the proteinaceous Ptr ToxA and...