E. coli divides faster than it can replicate its genome, while simultaneously expressing its genes. Scientists recently revealed the intricate molecular coordination that makes this possible. “It’s as ...

DNA replication is a fundamental process essential for bacterial growth and survival. Initiation begins at the chromosomal origin (oriC), where the conserved initiator protein DnaA assembles into an ...

Transposons are critical drivers of bacterial evolution that have been studied for many decades and have been the subject of Nobel Prize winning research. Now, researchers from Cornell University have ...

Bioinformaticians have established that the genes in bacterial genomes are arranged in a meaningful order. They describe that the genes are arranged by function: If they become increasingly important ...

DNA, often called the blueprint of life, is built from four chemical building blocks known as deoxy-nucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs)—dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP. Cells constantly need these molecules ...

Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that infect bacteria. Using phages therapeutically could be very useful in fighting antibiotic-resistant pathogens, but the molecular interactions ...

The microbial toxin colibactin has just the right shape to snuggle up to DNA — but its embrace is unfortunately more cancerous than cozy. Colibactin is produced by bacteria in the gut and causes ...

Researchers uncovered a previously unknown CRISPR immune response in bacteria that targets transfer RNAs. The newly ...

PHILADELPHIA — Deep in the mangrove swamps of the Caribbean lives a giant bacterium with a surprise trick for organizing its DNA. Thiovulum imperiosus wraps its genetic material in membranous fingers, ...

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), with collaborators from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), ...