In one of the most interesting conclusions ever to be derived from a scientific study, researchers learned recently that bacteria, microorganisms that exist virtually anywhere on the planet, have a sense of smell.

This is a very interesting discovery, considering that fact that some of the worst smells you can name most likely come from decomposing bacteria, or bacteria that are decomposing something.

The new finding was made by a group of marine microbiologists from the Newcastle University, in the United Kingdom, ScienceDaily reports.

The molecular nose outfitted on the bacteria enables the tiny living organisms to detect chemicals such as ammonia in their surrounding, chemicals that can go airborne, and also produce smells.

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PNA FISH uses fluorescent-labeled PNA [peptide nucleic acid] probes in a highly sensitive and specific 2.5 hours fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay targeting the species-specific ribosomal RNA (rRNA) in microbes. Once a blood culture turns positive, a Gram stain is performed and based on the results the appropriate PNA FISH test is selected.

Following the Gram stain result, a drop from the positive blood culture is fixed onto a microscope slide. PNA probe is added and hybridizes to the rRNA within the target microbes (S. aureus, C. albicans, E. faecalis, other enterococci, etc.). Excess probe is removed during a stringent wash step and the slides are visualized using fluorescence microscopy. Fluorescing cells identify the target microbe while non-florescence indicates the presense of a different microbe in the blood culture.

Source: medGadget

Smelly feet may be the price we have to pay for saving the planet. A new study reported by New Scientist has discovered that nanoparticles commonly found in antibacterial socks may be inadvertently raising levels of greenhouse gases.

Researchers were worried that silver nanoparticles– antibacterial agents used in a range of products, including odor-free socks– were escaping into the water system and killing friendly bacteria often used to treat wastewater.

“We are trying to find out what happens when these silver nanoparticles get into the real environment,” said Benjamin Colman, a chemist from Duke University who conducted the study. “These particles are developed with the express purpose of killing things.”

Previously, all research done on the environmental impacts of silver nanoparticles has been limited to their effects on a single microbe species within a lab. To better mimic the impact of silver in a real setting, Colman and colleagues instead looked at how high dosages effected a sample of stream water and soil in the lab. They also set up two outdoor tubs, one filled with nanoparticle-free sludge as a control, and another dosed with a concentration of nanoparticles similar to levels found in wastewater.

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Some patients fail to respond to treatment for intestinal infections perhaps because they are lacking certain protective bacteria, found in the human gut.

Our gastrointestinal tracts are teeming with trillions of bacteria, where they make essential amino acids and vitamins, help regulate our immune systems and break down starches and proteins.

Unfortunately, the interaction of man and bacteria is a grey area for scientists, who have surprisingly little idea about this symbiotic relationship, reports the Telegraph.

Thanks to the Human Microbiome Project, all this is about to change. An ambitious research exercise funded by the US, it could have implications equal in importance to the Human Genome Project that preceded it.

The project is dedicated to sequencing the genomes, the genetic content of the 900 or so species of microbes found in our bodies that scientists have so far been able to culture in the lab.

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For decades scientists have attempted to identify the genes that allow certain natural organisms to directly convert biomass into alkanes. To solve this mystery, the LS9 team looked into the genomes of bacteria that produce alkanes in nature – cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. “We evaluated many cyanobacteria that made alkanes and identified one that was not capable of producing them. By comparing the genome sequences of the producing and non‐producing organisms, we were able to identify the responsible genes,” according to Andreas Schirmer, Associate Director of Metabolic Engineering at LS9.

LS9 has focused on developing renewable petroleum products using a one‐step fermentation process that reduces cost and energy inputs.  Proposed biological routes to hydrocarbon production are emerging but require costly and energy-intense chemical conversion technologies such as distillation or hydrogenation. LS9’s discovery could mean the direct conversion of renewable biomass into fuels and chemicals without the need for chemical conversion technologies.

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Researchers have found currency notes in developed countries to have fewer bacteria than money in poorer countries.

Led by University of Ballarat’s food microbiologist Frank Vriesekoop, a global research team analysed banknotes from at least 10 nations, including Australia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Britain and the US.

“The richer and more developed countries had fewer bacteria on their money than poorer countries,” Vriesekoop said, according to the journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.

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According to the  New Scientist , Paolo Lionetti of the University of Florence, Italy, said that short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are generated by bugs associated with diets containing a very high proportion of vegetables and cereals.

SCFAs kill harmful gut bacteria such as salmonella and help protect against inflammation.

Lionetti compared the gut bacteria of children in Burkina Faso and Italy.

The stools of the African children contained almost three times as many short-chain fatty acids.

Breastfed infants in both countries had the same gut bacteria profiles, so diet rather than other environmental factors or genes seems to dictate which bacteria colonise the gut.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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A hospital in London and another in Nottingham have confirmed they have treated patients with the new ’superbug’, which is resistant to the most powerful antibiotics.

There are fears that without vigilance the enzyme that allows any bacteria to become a superbug could become widespread in NHS hospitals.

It has infected around 50 Britons so far, many of whom returned to the UK after undergoing surgery in India or Pakistan.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) yesterday stepped up its warnings about the new gene called NDM-1, or New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamose after the place where it was first identified.

Dutch researchers successfully used a ‘genome mining’ approach to identify and activate a group of genes in the bacterium  Streptomyces coelicolor. This led to the production of a new antibacterial compound that is effective against several bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli.

The study, by scientists at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, appears in the August issue of Microbiology.

The findings could lead to new treatments for serious diseases that are rapidly acquiring multi-drug resistance.

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A study by the department of microbiology, Genohelix Biolabs, Jain University, reveals that panipuri and bhelpuri sold on Bangalore streets have a high level of bacterial pathogens. It’s largely due to the water used and unhygienic surroundings.

In the study, `Analysis of Microbiological Quality of Street-Vended Panipuri and Bhelpuri Sold in Bangalore’, done this summer, eight different samples of chaats were collected from different locations.

“The samples were from Jayanagar, Basavanagudi, Chamarajpet and analyzed within an hour of collection. Isolation, enumeration and identification of the bacteria and fungi were carried out using standard procedures. Analysis revealed high content of bacterial pathogens such as steptococcus faecalis, escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus sp, klebsiella sp and pseudomonas sp,” said Nagananda G S, in-charge of plant biotechnology, department of microbiology, Jain University.

He added that the presence of faecal streptococci and coliforms indicated contamination of water as well as unhygienic conditions where these stalls were located.

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