Microbe Magazine

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FEATURES
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Forces Shaping Bacterial Systematics
Microbial taxonomists are cautious about adopting novel approaches for classifying organisms. Not that I was ever against progress, but I often struck a wait-and-see attitude during more than 30 years of exposure to the latest scientific means for identifying, naming, and classifying microbial sp...
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Sugar-Coating Bacteria with Lipopolysaccharides
Gram-negative bacteria produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the endotoxin that causes septic shock and is a leading cause of death in critically ill patients. Because LPS is the predominant surface-exposed lipid in Gram-negative bacteria, it is one of the first compounds to interact with host cells....
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RNAi Restricts Virus Infections
The innate immune system provides diverse organisms, including the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, with an early-acting defense against a broad range of microorganisms. Because D. melanogaster is relatively simple to work with and its genetics have been extensively analyzed, it p...
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