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IMAGE: A team led by the University of Tsukuba has found key differences that explain why some species of fungi can grow successfully through tiny gaps, whereas other fungi typically those with. view more
Credit: University of Tsukuba
Tsukuba, Japan - Fungi are a vital part of nature s recycling system of decay and decomposition. Filamentous fungi spread over and penetrate surfaces by extending fine threads known as hyphae.
Fungi that cause disease within living organisms can penetrate the spaces between tightly connected plant or animal cells, but how their hyphae do this, and why the hyphae of other fungal species do not, has been unclear.
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Washington, D.C. - March 16, 2021 - For the first time, researchers have isolated the fungus Candida auris from a sandy beach and tidal swamp in a remote coastal wetland ecosystem. The discovery, reported this week in
mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, represents the first evidence that the pathogen thrives in a natural environment and is not limited to mammalian hosts. C. auris can cause infections resistant to major antifungal drugs, and since its identification in clinical patients 10 years ago scientists have sought to understand its origins.
A commentary accompanying the study, published concurrently in the journal, hailed the work as a landmark discovery.
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VIDEO: These videos show a white blood cell creating a protrusion to reach out to a foreign body. view more
Credit: Julien Husson, LadHyX, CNRS, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytec
Like a well-trained soldier, a white blood cell uses specialized abilities to identify and ultimately destroy dangerous intruders, including creating a protrusion to effectively reach out, lock-on, probe, and possibly attack its prey. Researchers reporting March 16 in
Biophysical Journal show in detail that these cells take seconds to morph into these highly rigid and viscous defensive units.
Senior author Julien Husson (@ julienhusson), a biophysicist at École Polytechnique near Paris, and collaborators showed previously that certain white blood cells, called T cells, can push and pull perceived threats via specialized connections. To exert such forces, a cell must reorganize its internal structure, making itself more rigid. In the current study, Husson s team devised a m
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IMAGE: Using a chronosequence of corn lines, University of Illinois researchers found decades of breeding and reliance on chemical fertilizers prevents modern corn from recruiting nitrogen-fixing microbes. view more
Credit: Alonso Favela, University of Illinois.
URBANA, Ill. - Corn didn t start out as the powerhouse crop it is today. No, for most of the thousands of years it was undergoing domestication and improvement, corn grew humbly within the limits of what the environment and smallholder farmers could provide.
For its fertilizer needs, early corn made friends with nitrogen-fixing soil microbes by leaking an enticing sugary cocktail from its roots. The genetic recipe for this cocktail was handed down from parent to offspring to ensure just the right microbes came out to play.
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IMAGE: Sumit Chanda, co-senior study author and director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. view more
Credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
LA JOLLA, CALIF. - March 16, 2021 - A
Nature study authored by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the University of Hong Kong shows that the leprosy drug clofazimine, which is FDA approved and on the World Health Organization s List of Essential Medicines, exhibits potent antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2 and prevents the exaggerated inflammatory response associated with severe COVID-19. Based on these findings, a Phase 2 study evaluating clofazimine as an at-home treatment for COVID-19 could begin immediately.