Microbe Magazine

Of the two major bacterial species that colonize the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa eventually dominates Staphylococcus aureus. The faster and more fully the former overshadows the latter, the more likel... More...

A newly identified fungal species, isolated from an abandoned mine, can concentrate dysprosium and other industrially valuable rare-earth elements—making this fungus potentially useful for recovering such materials, according to Takumi Horiike and Mitsuo Yamashita at Shibaura Institute of Technol... More...

Fungus gardening termites have diverse gut microbiotas. Now, for the first time, researchers form the University of Copenhagen have investigated that of fungus-gardening ants, whose gardening techniques are fundamentally different. Termites predigest their plant substrate whereas ants deposit it ... More...

Around 4,600 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed and 1,500 women die annually in Germany (comparable numbers in the U.S. are nearly 13,000 and 4,100). Thomas Iftner of Tubingen, Germany, et al. compared two tests for detection of high-risk human papilloma virus, one that detects mRNA of the vi... More...

Domestic backyard poultry and wild birds are potential sources of human infection. Now David Gordon and Michaela Blyton of Australian National University (ANU) et al. show that Escherichia strains isolated from backyard domestic poultry were genetically distinct fro... More...

Amperage as low as 5 μA over 7 days, intermittent current as little as four hours/day, and 23 of 24 different disc and electrode combinations reduced biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and More...

No vaccine exists to prevent or treat the estimated 66–330 million cases of chronic otitis media that occur annually worldwide. Now Lauren Bakaletz of Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, et al. have developed a therapeutic vaccine that cured nontypeable Ha... More...

Lee-Ann Jaykus of North Carolina State University and doctoral student Clyde Manuel report the first study to show that copper kills human norovirus. They deposited human fecal samples containing either infectious virus or virus-like particles onto five different copper alloys, or stainless steel... More...

Due to broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties, silver has become a popular additive for medical treatments and devices, especially for burn and wound care. Now Phillip J. Finley of Mercy Hospital, Springfield, Mo., et al. provide evidence of emerging silver resistance. They found More...