Life forms can be roughly differentiated into those that are microscopic versus those that are not as well as those that are multicellular and those that, instead, are unicellular. Cellular organisms seem generally able to host viruses, and this propensity carries over to those that are both microscopic and less than truly multicellular. These viruses of microorganisms, or VoMs, in fact exist a...

Pine, Martin J. (Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, N.Y.). Alcohol-soluble protein of microorganisms. J. Bacteriol. 85:301-305. 1963.-In two microbial systems, new protein synthesis has been reported to take place at the expense of a disappearing alcohol-soluble protein fraction. Studies were made to characterize the fraction and assess its storage function in Escherichia coli. Synthesis...

Magnetotactic bacteria from freshwater and marine sediments orient and navigate along geomagnetic field lines. Their magnetotactic response is based on intracellular, single magnetic domains of ferrimagnetic magnetite, which impart a permanent magnetic dipole moment to the cell.

In physician's offices and biomedical labs, biological waste is handled every day. This waste is disposed of in waste containers designed for holding red autoclave bags. The containers used in these environments are closed hands-free containers, often with a step pedal. While these containers protect the user from surface-borne microorganisms, the containers may allow airborne microorganisms to...

We review the environmental role of rhamnolipids in terms of microbial life and activity. A large number of previous research supports the idea that these glycolipids mediate the uptake of hydrophobic substrates by bacterial cells. This feature might be of highest priority for bioremediation of spilled hydrocarbons. However, current evidence confirms that rhamnolipids primarily play a role in s...

The amount of thiobarbiturate-reacting material in 51 strains of bacteria and three yeasts was determined. Reactive material was found to be present in all of the gram-negative bacteria examined. It was assumed that the reactive material in this case was primarily 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate (KDO), an eight-carbon sugar acid which is usually associated with the cell wall lipolysaccharide of members ...