Microbioz India,January 2015 Issue

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Mysterious Deep Sea Microbes‌

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MICROBIOZ INDIA Reducing the level of Global warming!!!

Ocean Microbes & Climate Change This Month in Microbiology

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An Interview with Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badak,i Nigeria

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Dear readers Microbioz India, team wishes you all very happy New Year 2015, May god make true all of your wishes in this year and fill your life with lot of happiness and success‌!!!

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"Microbes differ between ocean provinces because of neutral evolution and dispersal limitation.

Because provinces are not well-mixed, the differences can continue to grow,” says Associate Professor Hellweger”

Contents Cover Story: Mysterious Deep Sea Microbes….Reducing

An Interview with Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badaki

The Level of Global warming…

Microbioz India January 2015 issue focus on Environmental Microbiology and cover story entitled “Mysterious Deep Sea Microbes…Reducing the level of Global Warming” Discussing about few mysterious life of deep sea microbes and their role in controlling global warming by reducing green house gases..

Ms. Rebecca Bello perform a short interview with Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badaki, Nigerian and a public health parasitologist.

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Ocean Microbes & Effect on Climate Change

Recent open Scholarships Position

This Issue of magazine also covers an interesting article based on Microbial effect on climates, Dr van Sebille, of the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre, says the ocean has at least six large catchments and this partly explains why microbes are so different in different parts of the ocean.

This section shares information about number of current open scholarships for pursuing higher education in Microbiology from reputed Universities around the world.

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Recent Research News on Microbiology

Microbioz India, Cross Word: January 2015

This issue of magazine has few interesting collections of recent research news informations, Research Scholarships open position collected from worldwide sources.

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In last phase of Magazine we launch a new puzzle word game for January edition and how we can forward announcing the names of winners of December 2014 edition of Magazines.

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H

i friends wishing you all a very happy new year, May god

make true all of your wishes in this year, by the start of this year Microbioz India goings to complete its one successful year and receives thousands of blessings and supports of our respected readers around the world, honorable team members Supporters and many more academic viewers.

Microbioz India January 2015 issue focus on Environmental Microbiology and cover story entitled “Mysterious Deep Sea Microbes…Reducing the level of Global Warming” Discussing about few mysterious life of deep sea microbes and their role in controlling global warming by reducing green house gases. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Although it doesn’t remain in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, while it's there, it is more than 80 times more potent than CO2. Methane is emitted by natural sources such as wetlands, as a byproduct of raising livestock, as well as from human activities, such as leakage from natural gas systems. California Institute of Technology geo-biologist Victoria Orphan studies the habits of those microbes. She said they are adapted to survive in this extreme environment. “These organisms would be able to extract energy from methane using sulfate found in sea water rather than oxygen and as an end product would produce hydrogen sulfide. So this is sort of that rotten egg smell. This Issue of magazine also covers an interesting article based on Microbial effect on climates, Dr van Sebille, of the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre, says the ocean has at least six large catchments and this partly explains why microbes are so different in different parts of the ocean.“Although all the ocean basins are connected with each other, water doesn’t flow easily between them. As our new study shows, this affects microbes floating in the water. They can easily spread within the catchment areas, but not so much between them,” says Dr van Sebille.Over the past several decades, ecologists have come to understand that neutral evolution— variation within and between species caused by genetic drift and random mutations—plays a role in the biogeography patterns of ocean microbes, along with natural selection."Microbes differ between ocean provinces because of neutral evolution and dispersal limitation.

Because provinces are not well-mixed, the differences can continue to grow,” says Associate Professor Hellweger.

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As we did in our earlier issue of Magazine each month we perform a short interview with Professors/Scientists/Academic or Industrial heads in this month our one of the team representative from Nigeria Ms. Rebecca Bello perform a short interview with Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badaki, Nigerian and a public health parasitologist. This issue of magazine has few interesting collections of recent research news informations, Research Scholarships open position collected from worldwide sources. In last phase of Magazine we launch a new puzzle word game for January edition and how we can forward announcing the names of winners of December 2014 edition of Magazines.

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Cover Story…

Mysterious Deep Sea Microbes…

Reducing the level of Global warming!!!

T

iny, single-celled bacteria comprise most life on this

planet, yet we have discovered only about five percent of its diversity. We know even less about bacteria thriving at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Bacteria at hydrothermal vents inhabit almost everything: rocks, the seafloor, even the inside of animals like mussels. All are living under extreme pressure and temperature changes. Perhaps the oddest and toughest bacteria at vents are the heat-loving ‘thermophiles.’ Temperatures well above 662°F (350°C) are not uncommon at vents. The “world record”; for life growing at high temperatures is 235°F (113¼C), a record held by a type of thermophile known as a hyperthermophile.

Cover Story…

Mysterious Deep Sea Microbes…

Reducing the level of Global Warming!!!

M

icrobes are single-celled organisms. But though they're small, they are hugely important in the deep ocean, where they are found in countless billions. Thanks to microbes, we find a teeming abundance of animals around many volcanoes and vents on the seafloor. Microbes provide food for deep-sea animals in two ways:





Some microbes are eaten. Certain types of animal, such as deep-sea shrimp and snails, graze on microbes living free in the water or on rocks.

Some sorts of microbe live inside animals, such as tubeworms and mussels, and manufacture food for them. Certain kinds of animal, such as tubeworms, derive all their food from these symbiotic bacteria ("symbiotic" means "living together").

They provide the microbes with a place to live and the chemical ingredients to make sugars and other nutrients. In return, the microbes provide the animals with much of the food they make.

Two main kinds of microbe live in the deep sea: bacteria and archaea.  Bacteria are found in huge numbers all over the Earth—inside your gut, on the highest mountain tops, at the bottom of the sea. While some types of bacteria can cause disease in humans, most kinds don't cause disease, and many are positively beneficial to us.  Archaea resemble bacteria in shape and size so closely that they used to be classed as bacteria. But detailed study of their genetics and chemical makeup has revealed that they are only very distantly related to bacteria. Like bacteria, they are found in an astonishing range of places—even inside some rocks hundreds of feet deep (where they are carried by fluids trickling through tiny fissures).

Tiny, single-celled bacteria comprise most life on this planet, yet we have discovered only about five percent of its diversity. We know even less about bacteria thriving at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Bacteria at hydrothermal vents inhabit almost everything: rocks, the seafloor, even the inside of animals like mussels. All are living under extreme pressure and temperature changes. Perhaps the oddest and toughest bacteria at vents are the heat-loving ‘thermophiles.’ Temperatures well above 662°F (350°C) are not uncommon at vents. The “world record”; for life growing at high temperatures is 235°F (113¼C), a record held by a type of thermophile known as a hyperthermophile. These themophiles grow best above 176°F (80°C). Many thermophiles have a simple diet, based solely on the metals, gases and minerals that comprise the hydrothermal vent fluid. For example, on Knorr we are growing thermophiles collected from vent sites in the Indian Ocean that require only sulfur, hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

The oceans teem with microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and protists. Many of these microbes fundamentally influence the ocean's ability to sustain life on Earth. Some microbes living and transported in ocean water, however, threaten human health. In the open ocean, far from the influences of coastal human habitation, sea water still contains huge numbers of microbes. Coastal areas can contain even greater Concentrations. Vast numbers of bacteria and plankton occur both at the surface and in deep ocean waters. Viruses are entities that require bacteria or other cells in order to make copies of their genetic material and to Construct new casings that house the genetic material. Scientific studies have shown that 10 to 100 million viruses can be present in a teaspoonful of sea water. More plankton exists in sea water than any other organism.

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Cover Story‌

New deep-sea hot springs discovered in Atlantic: Hydrothermal vents may contribute more to oceans' thermal budget Image Credit: MARUM

News Story Courtesy: Science Daily

Chimney-like structures spew hot fluids of up to 300 degrees Celsius that contain large amounts of methane and hydrogen sulfide. Credit: Science Daily

Microscopic forms include protists and bacteria. Phytoplankton are photosynthetic organisms, including algae. By harvesting the energy of the Sun and converting it to their tissues, phytoplankton form the basis of the food chain in the ocean. All ocean organisms depend on phytoplankton either directly or indirectly. Eventually, humans consume ocean creatures such as fish.

Even human life, therefore, is tied to the presence of phytoplankton.

Microbes such as plankton also have other benefits. In the ocean, they help make some nutrients available to other living marine creatures. Elemental iron, for example, is important for living creatures but is scarce in the ocean. Sunlight can change iron to a form that can be taken up by plankton and other microbes. The microorganisms are used as food by other organisms, such as fish and ocean mammals, making the iron available to other creatures in the food chain. Knowledge of the diversity of microbial life in the oceans continues to grow. Until the 1990s, knowledge of microbial populations was determined using assays that relied on the growth of the microbe. Now, detection and identification of microbes are possible by the examination of their genetic material. These molecular assay techniques have revealed much larger numbers and types of microbes in the ocean than scientists previously suspected. The bacteria-like microbes known as Archaea represent one example of research surprising to marine microbiologists.

Cover Story‌ Archaea are one of the major domains of life on Earth. Since their discovery in 1970, these microorganisms have been found in many extreme environments on Earth, including hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. Recently, scientists determined that Archaea also exist in the open sea. Moreover, these microbes may comprise up to half the mass of life in the oceans, and so must play an important role in the processes that occur in the oceans. A bacteria colony on the ocean floor illustrates the ubiquitous nature of microorganisms. Marine bacteria play a major role in the ocean's nutrient cycles.

Sewage into the oceans releases huge numbers of bacteria and viruses into the water. These microbes normally live in the intestinal tracts of humans and other warm-blooded animals. The water that is contaminated by these microbes can be the source of diseases.

Just as humans are susceptible to microbial infections, so too can marine animals (e.g., mammals) develop infections. It is believed that infections are to blame for at least some cases of marine mammal "beachings," in which whales or dolphins become stranded on the shore. It is thought that human pollution may exacerbate this problem by increasing the likelihood of infection and decreasing the quality of the water. Another potentially harmful microbe found naturally in the ocean is a protist called a dinoflagellate. At certain times and under certain conditions, some dinoflagellate species and other algal species can undergo population explosions called blooms, sometimes in response to human-caused pollution. These blooms often are called "red tides" because the algal pigments color the water. Further, some of the bloom-causing algae may produce natural poisons known as biotoxins. These biotoxins are transferred to ocean animals that feed on the toxin-containing algae, and also are released into the water as the dead algae decay. These biotoxins can bioaccumulate in the ocean food chain, sickening or killing higher-order animal consumers and tainting fisheries and shellfisheries used by humans. Within the hydrothermal vents of the deep sea, a myriad of bacteria and archaea live and prosper, despite being surrounded by heat, cold, pressure, and lack of light (Botos). These bacteria respond by using certain processes, described later, which enable them to survive. The majority of the microbes that live in this niche include hyperthermophiles and thermophiles from both the bacterial and archaeal domains.

Recent studies have shown an increasing number of unclassified and uncultivated thermophiles.

This leads scientists to believe that these communities are very phylogenetically diverse. Major types of bacteria that live near these vents are mesophilic sulfur bacteria. These bacteria are able to achieve high biomass densities due to their unique physiological adaptations. For example, Beggiatoa spp. is able to carry an internal store of nitrate as an electron acceptor that helps with the harvesting of free sulfide in the upper sediment region of the vents. Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (previously from the genus Methanococcus): Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, a hyperthermophilic, hydrogenotrophic, and methanogenic archaea (meaning it produces methane [methanogenesis]), is one of the many microbes inhabiting the hydrothermal vents. The cold seawater surrounding the deep sea vents, permeates through the chimney and lowers the temperature from 350°C, to a temperature M. jannaschii can survive. By permeating through the chimney wall, oxygen is also brought into the nutrient rich vent fluid. M. jannaschii uses sulfide (S2-) for growth and energy, which is good because sulfide is present in high levels in the vent fluid.

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Image Credit: PMEL, EARTH OCEAN INTERACTION PROGRAMME

Cover Story‌

Hydrothermal Vents According to National Geographic News Report

H

ydrothermal vents are like geysers, or hot springs, on the ocean floor. Along mid-ocean ridges where tectonic plates

spread apart, magma rises and cools to form new crust and volcanic mountain chains. Seawater circulates deep in the ocean’s crust and becomes super-heated by hot magma. As pressure builds and the seawater warms, it begins to dissolve minerals and rise toward the surface of the crust. The hot, mineral-rich waters then exit the oceanic crust and mix with the cool seawater above. As the vent minerals cool and solidify into mineral deposits, they form different types of hydrothermal vent structures.

Hydrothermal vent structures are characterized by different physical and chemical factors, including the minerals, temperatures, and flow levels of their plumes. Black smokers emit the hottest, darkest plumes, which are high in sulfur content and form chimneys up to 18 stories tall, or 55 meters (180 feet). The plumes of white smokers are lightly colored and rich in barium, calcium, and silicon. Compared to black smokers, white smokers usually emit cooler plumes and form smaller chimneys. Vents with even cooler, weaker flows are often called seeps. They appear to shimmer because of differences in water temperatures or bubble because of the presence of gases, like carbon dioxide. The study of hydrothermal vent ecosystems continues to redefine our understanding of the requirements for life. The ability of vent organisms to survive and thrive in such extreme pressures and temperatures and in the presence of toxic mineral plumes is fascinating. The conversion of mineral-rich hydrothermal fluid into energy is a key aspect of these unique ecosystems. Through the process of chemosynthesis, bacteria provide energy and nutrients to vent species without the need for sunlight.

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Cover Story…

Hydrothermal Vents & Microbes Hydrothermal vents occur at both diverging and converging plate boundaries. Heat is released as magma rises and cracks the ocean floor and overlying sediments. Seawater drains into the fractures and becomes superheated, dissolving minerals and concentrating sulfur and other compounds. When the water is blocked in its downward path it spews forth as a jet of water with temperatures approaching 750° F. Vents usually occur in clusters or wide fields above a given body of magma. More tectonically active plate boundaries (e.g., the East Pacific Rise) tend to have more numerous and denser clusters of vents than less active (e.g., the Atlantic Mid-Oceanic Ridge) locations. Vents are temporary features on the seafloor. They become inactive when seafloor-spreading moves them away from the rising magma or when they become clogged. Some vent fields may remain active for 10,000 years, but individual vents are much shorter-lived.

Scientists have long assumed that life on Earth originated in the oceans and the recent discovery of communities of microbes and animals that congregate around hot spring vents in the deep sea has buoyed speculation that the earliest life on our planet may have occurred in the depths of the ocean in the absence of sunlight. Deep Sea hot spring vents are places on the seafloor where hot water exits the ocean crust and comes to the surface. The hot water forms when seawater is heated in young ocean crust (usually close to spreading centers and areas of volcanic activity). Associated with these vents are living communities that exist thousands of meters beneath the surface of the sea, first discovered them in the late 1970's. Up to that time it had always been assumed that life required sunlight, but we now know the communities that live near these deep sea vents can exist on thermal and chemical energy provided by the vent. Thus, there life does not necessarily need sunlight and photosynthesis to prosper. Scientists that believe that hydrothermal vents were the cradle of life argue that the mix of high heat and cold seawater in the vent environment led to the formation of the first organic compounds, and that the formation of pyrite in ancient vents from sulfur and iron could have produced energy to force organic compounds to combine, leading eventually to the creation of life.

In this context it has been proposed that metal sulfides of black smokers (one type of deep sea vent) could act as catalysts in the first step toward building organic molecules (remember, polymerization on mineral surfaces is also implicated in early RNA catalysis). Some scientists now believe that life in hydrothermal vents began well before 3.2 billion years ago. Using electron ionization mass spectroscopy, they found few differences when they compared organic compounds from current vents with biologically diverse vents fossilized in 3.2-billion-year-old greenstone from South Africa.

According to Dr. Julie Huber & Dr. Julie Reveillaud (FK008 – 2013): Microbial members of the hydrothermal vent community are heat-loving, or thermophilic, meaning they grow at very high temperatures, from a “mild” 40 °C (104 °F) all the way up to 121 °C (250 °F)! My research focuses on these high temperature organisms and how they interact with the complex and dynamic geochemical vent environment. We are especially interested in the subseafloor microbial community. The circulation of hydrothermal fluids and seawater occurs within the upper 500 m of porous oceanic crust and provides a rich environment for microbial growth beneath the seafloor. To access this “invisible” environment, we collect hydrothermal vent fluids as a window into the subseafloor habitat. The MCR offers a unique opportunity to study the microbial populations at a very different kind of submarine volcanic system compared to more “traditional” midocean ridge or hot spot systems, including those at great depth (Piccard) and those in ultramafic hosted conditions (Von Damm).

Based on our previous work here, we have designed new a number of experiments to probe further into the generation and consumption of methane by microbes and the influence of temperature and hydrogen on these important metabolic processes.

It has been hypothesized that life may have originated and evolved near deep-sea hydrothermal systems, and that organisms currently living in these likely analogues of early habitats may still harbor characteristics of early life. Microbes unique to this environment could provide insight into metabolic processes, strategies for growth, and survival of life forms in the subsurface of solar bodies with a water history. For example, Jupiter’s satellite Europa may harbor a liquid ocean with life-supporting hydrothermal systems beneath its icy shell. And the recent detection of methane in the Mars atmosphere has brought considerable attention to methane Generation, both abiotic and biotic, and in general, determining if Mars can feasibly support microbial metabolisms that use or generate methane.

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Cover Story…

Role in reducing the level of Global Warming

“Microbes in Deep Sea Rocks Eat Global Warming Gas”

Microscopic image of methane-oxidizing microbes recovered from deep-sea methane seep sediments. Methane-oxidizing Archaea are stained with DNA probe in green, associated symbiotic bacteria are stained in blue. The orange-yellow materials are sediment particles. (S. McGlynn, Caltech)

Image Credit: VOICE OF AMERICA

According to Blog Published in Voice of America by: Rosanne Skirble

A new study finds that tiny microbes inside rocks in the deep ocean are munching on methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Although it doesn’t remain in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, while it's there, it is more than 80 times more potent than CO2. Methane is emitted by natural sources such as wetlands, as a byproduct of raising livestock, as well as from human activities, such as leakage from natural gas systems. It also is abundant in the ocean - largely in frozen reservoirs, but also seeping from deep within the earth's interior, through cracks in the ocean floor. Little of that gas reaches the atmosphere, thanks to methane-eating microbes that live in seabed sediments near methane vents in the deep ocean.

California Institute of Technology geo-biologist Victoria Orphan studies the habits of those microbes. She said they are adapted to survive in this extreme environment.“These organisms would be able to extract energy from methane using sulfate found in sea water rather than oxygen and as an end product would produce hydrogen sulfide. So this is sort of that rotten egg smell.

And also, as another by-product, these organisms would produce carbonate, sort of like the pavement you see on the sidewalk,” she said. Over time, that calcium carbonate forms towering rocky seamounts adjacent to the methane seeps. Orphan hypothesized that those outcroppings also harbored life, so she hitched a ride on a submersible down 800 meters to the sea floor to prove it.

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Cover Story‌ Deep-sea microbes keep methane from escaping ocean Writing in the journal Nature Communications, Orphan says the abundance of these tiny organisms - both in sediment and in rock - explains how the microbes can put a lid on methane in the world's oceans so it doesn’t make it through the water column to the atmosphere. And, she adds, the diversity of worms, crabs and other creatures crawling around the rocks consuming the microbes may indicate a dynamic - previously unknown - ecosystem.

According to Blog report published in Nature World News by:

Jenna Iacurci

Certain methane-munching microbes have hit rock bottom, literally, living in rocks on the bottom of the ocean floor and soaking up large amounts of the potent greenhouse gas, according to new research. These bottom-dwellers, described in the journal Nature Communications, are previously unknown methane sinks located in the deep sea, having such an effect that they impact global levels of the gas.

"We've recognized for awhile that the deep ocean is a sink for methane, but primarily it has been thought that it was only in the sediment," study researcher Jeffrey Marlow, a graduate student at Caltech, told Live Science. "The fact that it appears to be active in the rocks itself sort of redistributes where that methane is going."

According to the researchers, these microbes don't need oxygen to survive, but rather rely on sulfate ions present in the seawater for their energy needs. Their methane breathing system, the details of which still remain unclear, involves single-celled microorganisms dubbed "ANME" for "Anaerobic Methanotrophs." ANME work closely with bacteria to consume methane using the ocean's sulfate."Without this biological process, much of that methane would enter the water column, and the escape rates into the atmosphere would probably be quite a bit higher," Marlow said in a statement.

The microbes, living in enormous rocks hundreds of feet tall, eat about 80 to 90 percent of the world's methane released through previously studied seeps, or cracks in the ocean floor.Lead study author Victoria Orphan of Caltech and her colleagues found direct evidence of methane-breathing microbes in carbonate rocks collected from Hydrate Ridge, off the Oregon coast, as well as from cold seeps in Costa Rica and off the coast of northwestern California. According to DNA analysis of rock samples, even though the microbes consumed methane at a slower rate than their sediment-dwelling cousins, there are presumably so many more microbes in the rock than in the dirt, its impact on global methane levels may be more significant. Like notorious carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas capable of trapping heat from the Sun in the Earth's atmosphere. Though carbon dioxide (CO2) is more abundant, methane is actually 80 percent more potent at trapping heat than CO2.And these methaneeating microbes, though out of site in the deep ocean, may be vital to reducing methane's role in global warming.

Ocean Microbes & effect on climate

T

he causes and effects of climate change have been widely discussed and debated for decades. Most scientists agree that increased carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere resulting from the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming, at least in part. However, global warming is not the only effect of CO2 emissions.

When the oceans absorb CO2, the chemical reaction that takes place produces carbonic acid (H2CO3), which increases the acidity (lowers the pH) of seawater. Many scientists believe that decreasing pH in the oceans interferes with the ability of certain marine animals, such as corals and other calcifying marine organisms, to make their skeletons and shells from calcium carbonate minerals. Other marine species that may be affected include lobsters, snails, starfish, oysters, clams, and various species of phytoplankton, which are all species that occupy vital spots in the global-ocean food web.

These environmental impacts would reverberate through economies everywhere; various industries, including tourism and fisheries, would likely suffer if the ecology of our oceans were to be altered. In the past year, numerous agencies and organizations have contributed time, money, research, and insight with the aim of better understanding the impact of carbon dioxide on life in our oceans. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) contributes substantially to this effort by conducting research and sharing knowledge with such partners as NOAA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

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Cover Story…

Researchers check the "mesocosms," eight-meter long floatation frames carrying plastic bags with a capacity of 50 cubic meters, deployed for a five-week long field study on ocean acidification conducted in the Kongsfjord off the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Credit: Ulf Riebesell/GEOMAR

According to Climate Central, Climate News Network, Submitted by; Tim Radford….

Researchers at the University of Southern California have been experimenting with common microbes, hoping to predict which will flourish in a warmer and more carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. The microbes are two genera of cyanobacteria. These tiny creatures – blue-green algae responsible for huge occasional “blooms” in the sea – are life’s bottom line: they fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and they photosynthesize atmospheric carbon to release oxygen, so they deliver staples for survival both for all plants and for all animals.

These microbes are everywhere. U.S. researchers recently charted the predicted change in cyanobacteria populations in the arid soils of the North American continent over the next century: now this second team has begun to look at life in the sea. David Hutchins and colleagues studies two groups of nitrogen fixers; Trichodesmium and Crocosphaera: the first forms vast and often visible colonies, the second is harder to see, but is found everywhere. They tested seven strains of the two microbes, from different locations in both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, under laboratory conditions in artificial atmospheres that mimicked the predicted carbon dioxide concentrations under various climate scenarios.

Cover Story…

The researchers found that as carbon dioxide levels rose, nitrogen-fixing productivity rose too, by up to 125 percent. But the responses varied according to the strain under test: some did better under pre-industrial conditions; some flourished as they neared the levels predicted for a “greenhouse” world.The research demonstrates what any evolutionary biologist would have predicted: that environmental conditions “select” for particular species with the appropriate adaptations, and that as conditions change, so do populations. What it means in practical terms for the rest of the planet is less certain. This is basic research which exploits the university’s large “library” of marine microorganisms, and establishes a baseline of data that will give some guide to ocean productivity in the future, but quite how it will affect the marine food chain – and oceans cover 70 percent of the planet, so it is a big question – is still to be established.“Our findings show that CO2 has the potential to control the biodiversity of these keystone organisms in ocean biology, and our fossil fuel emissions are probably responsible for changing the types of nitrogen fixers that are growing in the ocean,” said Professor Hutchins. “And we’re not entirely certain how that will change the ocean of tomorrow.”Tim Radford is a reporter for Climate News Network.

Climate News Network is a news service led by four veteran British environmental reporters and broadcasters. It delivers news and commentary about climate change for free to media outlets worldwide. In the deepest ocean site on earth, nearly 11 kilometers below sea level, an international team of researchers has found thriving bacteria communities existing in the sediment of one of the planet’s most inaccessible places. At the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific, the scientists led by Professor Ronnie Glud from the University of Southern Denmark have discovered that the sediment there houses almost 10 times more bacteria than the sediments of the surrounding abyssal plain at a much shallower depth of 6 km.

This is in spite of the extreme pressure (almost 1,100 times greater than sea level) being exerted on the sunless environment.

The results published today by Nature Geoscience are the first scientific results to be analysed from such extreme locations. The team, which explores the deepest parts of the world’s oceans, includes researchers from Denmark, Germany, Japan and SAMS in the UK. Deep sea trenches act as hot spots for microbial activity because they receive an unusually high flux of organic matter, made up of remnants of dead animals, algae and other microbes. This organic matter comes from the overlying sunlit waters and the much shallower surrounding seafloor from where it is thought it is shaken loose during earthquakes, which are common in the area. Currents may also transport extra sediment down the trench slopes. We measured the distribution of a naturally occurring substance called lead-210 to determine how much sediment is transported down the trench slopes in addition to the material that settles straight from the overlying waters, and it turns out the slope transport may in fact double the amount of sediment reaching the bottom of the trench“, says Dr Robert Turnewitsch from SAMS. This may mean that even though deep-sea trenches, like the Mariana Trench, only amount to about two percent of the seafloor of the world ocean, they could have a relatively larger impact on marine carbon cycling than previously thought, which would affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and impact climate regulation. According to: SAMS,Scottish Marine Institute,Oban,Argyll.

A group of oceanic micro-organisms just might prove a surprising ally in the fight against climate change:

Bacteria & Climate News Credit: The Economist

Cover Story‌

Climate Chain Survive

Change

by

Altering

Allowing

Oceanic

Certain

Food

Microbes

to

‌..According to Report, Nature World News

Climate change is favoring certain strains of bacteria leading to a drastic change in microbial life in the ocean, a new study has found. Researchers say that change in microbial activity in the ocean leads to changes in the entire food chain. The oceans have a fine balance of life that has taken millions of years to develop. A previous study had found that rising temperatures along with a high influx of nitrogen was disrupting the food chain in the ocean. In the present study, researchers found that on a warmer earth, some organisms are more likely to survive than others.

Researchers looked at two types of cyanobacteria (those that fix atmospheric nitrogen): Trichodesmium and Crocosphaera.

Other studies have shown that these two bacteria are most likely to survive in the future. In the new study, researchers were able to determine which strains of these two bacteria will be able to cope with climate change.

"Our findings show that CO2 has the potential to control the biodiversity of these keystone organisms in ocean biology, and our fossil fuel emissions are probably responsible for changing the types of nitrogen fixers that are growing in the ocean," said David Hutchins, professor of marine environmental biology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and lead author of the research article."This may have all kinds of ramifications for changes in ocean food chains and productivity, even potentially for resources we harvest from the ocean such as fisheries production," Hutchins added. The research article is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.Recently; there has even been a rise in oceanic acidification that had led to a decline in population of many marine organisms. However, another research has shown that some organisms such as the sea urchin can adapt to the changing environment better than others.

Deep sea microbes along with effecting climate change also influence number of other effects, According to other news blog named: Sydney Morning Herald: Published In April 2014.

Colony of Trichodesmium bacteria roughly the size of the head of a pin. (Photo/Eric Webb) (Photo: Eric WebbUniversity of Southern California)

Cover Story‌

Climate-changing microbes ‘made 90% of species on earth extinct' -News Credit: The Sydney Morning Therald

A fossil of a trilobite, a horsecrab-like creature that thrived in the seas for hundreds of millions of years before becoming one of many kinds of animals wiped out in a mass extinction that befell the planet 252 million years ago.

Photo: Reuters

Climate-changing microbes may have caused the biggest mass extinction in history 252 million years ago, scientists believe.

Volcanic eruptions had previously been blamed for the sudden loss of 90 per cent of all species on earth at the end of the Permian era.But new research suggests volcanoes played only a bit part in the catastrophe. The chief perpetrators were a microscopic methane-producing archaea life-form called methanosarcina that bloomed explosively in the oceans. Enormous quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, generated by methanosarcina are thought to have sent temperatures soaring and acidified the seas.

Unable to adapt in time, countless species died out and vanished from the earth. The horseshoe crab-like trilobites and the sea scorpions - denizens of the seas for hundreds of millions of years - simply vanished. Other marine groups barely avoided oblivion, including common creatures called ammonites with tentacles and a shell. On land, most of the dominant mammal-like reptiles died, with the exception of a handful of lineages including the ones that were the ancestors of modern mammals, including people."Land vertebrates took as long as 30 million years to reach the same levels of biodiversity as before the extinction, and afterwards life in the oceans and on land was radically changed, dominated by very different groups of animals," said US scientist Gregory Fournier, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).The first dinosaurs appeared 20 million years after the Permian mass extinction."One important point is that the natural environment is sensitive to the evolution of microbial life," said Daniel Rothman, an MIT geophysics< professor who led the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The best example of that, Professor Rothman said, was the advent about 2.5 billion years ago of bacteria engaging in photosynthesis, which paved the way for the later appearance of animals by belching fantastic amounts of oxygen into earth's atmosphere.

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Cover Storyâ&#x20AC;Ś Methanosarcina is still found today in places like oil wells, trash dumps and the guts of animals like cows. Alarmingly, the same effects are starting to happen today as a result of global warming caused by man-made carbon emissions. Analysis of geological carbon deposits reveals a significant boost in levels of carbon-containing gases - either carbon dioxide or methane - at the time of the mass extinction. But volcanic eruptions alone could never have produced the amount of carbon laid down in rock sediments during this period, the researchers say."A rapid initial injection of carbon dioxide from a volcano would be followed by a gradual decrease," Dr Fournier said."Instead, we see the opposite: a rapid, continuing increase."That suggests a microbial expansion. The growth of microbial populations is among the few phenomena capable of increasing carbon production exponentially, or even faster."It existed before the Permian crisis. But genetic evidence indicates it acquired a unique new quality at that time through a process known as "gene transfer" from another microbe, the researchers said.

It suddenly became a major producer of methane through the consumption of accumulated organic carbon in ocean sediments.

The microbe would have been unable to proliferate so wildly without proper mineral nutrients. The researchers found that cataclysmic volcanic eruptions that occurred at that time in Siberia drove up ocean concentrations of nickel, a metallic element that just happens to facilitate this microbe's growth.Dr Fournier called volcanism a catalyst instead of a cause of mass extinction - "the detonator rather than the bomb itself"."As small as an individual micro organism is, their sheer abundance and ubiquity make for a huge cumulative impact. On a geochemical level, they really do run the planet," he said. The Permian mass extinction unfolded during tens of thousands of years and was not the sudden die-off that an asteroid impact might cause, the researchers said.

The most famous of earth's mass extinctions occurred 65 million years ago when an asteroid impact wiped out the dinosaurs that ruled the land and many marine species. There also were huge die-offs 440 million years ago, 365 million years ago and 200 million years ago.

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Recent Research Newsâ&#x20AC;Ś Trial confirms Ebola vaccine candidate Safe, equally immunogenic in Africa -News Story Source: Science Daily, Microbiology News

"This is the first study to show comparable safety and immune response of an experimental Ebola vaccine in an African population," says lead author Dr Julie Ledgerwood. "This is particularly encouraging because those at greatest risk of Ebola live primarily in Africa, and diminished vaccine protection in African populations has been seen for other diseases."Credit: Š nito / Fotolia

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wo experimental DNA vaccines to prevent Ebola virus and the closely related Marburg virus are safe, and generated a similar immune response in healthy Ugandan adults as reported in healthy US adults earlier this year. The findings, from the first trial of filoviruses vaccines in Africa, are published in The Lancet. "This is the first study to show comparable safety and immune response of an experimental Ebola vaccine in an African population," says lead author Dr Julie Ledgerwood from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health, USA. "This is particularly encouraging because those at greatest risk of Ebola live primarily in Africa, and diminished vaccine protection in African populations has been seen for other diseases."

Scientists from the NIAID developed the DNA vaccines that code for Ebola virus proteins from the Zaire and Sudan strains and the Marburg virus protein. The vaccines contain the construction plans for the proteins on the outer surface of the virus. Immune responses against these proteins have shown to be highly protective in non-human primate models.

In this phase 1 trial, the Makerere University Walter Reed Program enrolled 108 healthy adults aged between 18 and 50 from Kampala, Uganda between November, 2009 and April, 2010. Each volunteer was randomly assigned to receive an intramuscular injection of either the Ebola vaccine (30 volunteers), Marburg vaccine (30), both vaccines (30), or placebo (18) at the start of the study, and again 4 weeks and 8 weeks later. The vaccines given separately and together were safe and stimulated an immune response in the form of neutralising antibodies and T-cells against the virus proteins. Four weeks after the third injection, just over half of the volunteers (57%; 17 of 30) had an antibody response to the Ebola Zaire protein as did 14 of 30 participants who received both the Ebola and Marburg vaccines. However, the antibodies were not long-lasting and returned to undetectable levels within 11 months of vaccination. Both DNA vaccines were well tolerated in Ugandan adults with similar numbers of local and systemic reactions reported in all groups. Only one serious adverse event (neutropenia; low white blood cell count) was reported in a Marburg vaccine only recipient, but was not thought to be vaccine related. According to Dr Ledgerwood, "These findings have already formed the basis of a more potent vaccine, delivered using a harmless chimpanzee cold virus, which is undergoing trials in the USA, UK, Mali, and Uganda in response to the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak."

Writing in a linked Comment, Dr. Saranya Sridhar from the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford in the UK says, "[This] study deserves to be the focal point around which the broader question of vaccine development, particularly for Africa, must be addressed. With the uncharitable benefit of hindsight in view of the evolving 2014 Ebola outbreak, we must ask ourselves whether a filoviruses vaccine should have been in more advanced clinical development. The international response to the present Ebola outbreak is an exemplar of the speed and purpose with which clinical vaccine development can progress and has set the benchmark against which future vaccine development must be judged. This study is the first step on the aspirational road towards the deployment of filoviruses vaccines in Africa and must serve to shake the metaphorical cobwebs that can stall our advance towards this destination."

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Recent Research News

Mysteries of 'molecular machines' revealed: Phenix software uses X-ray diffraction spots to produce 3-D image

-News Story Source: Science Daily, Microbiology News

This is a membrane protein called cysZ, imaged in 3 dimensions with Phenix software using data that could not previously be analyzed.Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

S

cientists are making it easier for pharmaceutical companies and researchers to see the detailed inner workings of molecular machines. 'Inside each cell in our bodies and inside every bacterium and virus are tiny but complex protein molecules that synthesize chemicals, replicate genetic material, turn each other on and off, and transport chemicals across cell membranes,' said Tom Terwilliger, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist.

'Understanding how all these machines work is the key to developing new therapeutics, for treating genetic disorders, and for developing new ways to make useful materials.'To understand how a machine works you have to be able to see how it is put together and how all its parts fit together. This is where the Los Alamos scientists come in. These molecular machines are very small: a million of them placed side by side would take up less than an inch of space. Researchers can see them however, using x-rays, crystals and computers. Researchers produce billions of copies of a protein machine, dissolve them in water, and grow crystals of the protein, like growing sugar crystals except that the machines are larger than a sugar molecule.

Then they shine a beam of X-rays at a crystal and measure the brightness of each of the thousands of diffracted X-ray spots that are produced. Then researchers use the powerful Phenix software, developed by scientists at Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Duke and Cambridge universities, to analyze the diffraction spots and produce a threedimensional picture of a single protein machine. This picture tells the researchers exactly how the protein machine is put together.

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Recent Research News

The 3-D Advance Recently Los Alamos scientists worked with their colleagues at LBNL and Cambridge University to make it even easier to visualize a molecular machine. In a report in the journal Nature Methods this month, Los Alamos scientists and their team show that they can obtain three-dimensional pictures of molecular machines using X-ray diffraction spots that could not previously be analyzed.

Some molecular machines contain a few metal atoms or other atoms that diffract X-rays differently than the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen atoms that make up most of the atoms in a protein. The Phenix software finds those metal atoms first, and then uses their locations to find all the other atoms. For most molecular machines, however, metal atoms have to be incorporated into the machine artificially to make this all work.

The major new development to which Los Alamos scientists have contributed was showing that powerful statistical methods could be applied to find metal atoms even if they do not scatter X-rays very differently than all the other atoms. Even metal atoms such as sulfur that are naturally part of almost all proteins can be found and used to generate a three-dimensional picture of a protein. Now that it will often be possible to see a three-dimensional picture of a protein without artificially incorporating metal atoms into them, many more molecular machines can be studied.

Cracking the Cascade Molecular machines that have recently been seen in three-dimensional detail include a 'huge' molecular machine called Cascade that was reported in the journal Science this summer. The Cascade machine is present in bacteria and can recognize DNA that comes from viruses that infect the bacteria. The Cascade machine is made up of 11 proteins and an RNA molecule and looks like a seahorse, with the RNA molecule winding through the whole 'body' of the seahorse. If a foreign piece of DNA in the bacterial cell is complementary to part of the RNA molecule then another specialized machine can come by and chop up the foreign DNA, saving the bacterium from infection.

Los Alamos and Cambridge University scientists who were developing the Phenix software were part of the team that visualized this protein machine for the first time. The Phenix software has been used to determine the three-dimensional shapes of over 15,000 different protein machines and has been cited by over 5000 scientific publications.

Journal References Gábor Bunkóczi, Airlie J McCoy, Nathaniel Echols, Ralf W Grosse-Kunstleve, Paul D Adams, James M Holton, Randy J Read, Thomas C Terwilliger. Macromolecular X-ray structure determination using weak, single-wavelength anomalous data. Nature Methods, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.3212

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Recent Research News

Microplastics in the ocean: Biologists study Effects on marine animals -News Story Source: Science Daily, Microbiology News

A marine isopod of the genus Idotea with food pellets.

Credit: Photo Alfred Wegener Institute / Julia Hämer

I

ngestion of microplastic particles does not mechanically affect marine isopods. This was the result of a study by biologists at the North Sea Office of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) that was published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The study marks the launch of a series of investigations aimed at forming a risk matrix on the sensitivity of different marine species to microplastic pollution.

Uptake of large plastic items by birds and fish may cause blockage of the gastrointestinal tract and severe starvation of the animals. "We were wondering whether small plastic particles have a comparable effect on smaller animals," says Dr. Lars Gutow from AWI's North Sea Office. "Only very limited research has been done on the effects of microplastics on living beings.

Accordingly, there is great uncertainty about the implications for marine animals," the biologist explains the motivation for the study.

Lars Gutow and his colleagues selected the isopod Idotea emarginata as their model organism for an initial case study. In feeding experiments the researchers offered the isopods artificial algal food supplemented with plastic particles. The food contained three different kinds of microplastics in varying concentrations. They used industrially produced polystyrene particles with a diameter of ten micrometers as well as self-made fragments and fibres made of polyethylene and polyacryl, respectively.

The researchers studied the fate of the different materials under a light microscope, with the help of a fluorescence microscope, and with an electron microscope. They were able to trace the path of the microplastic particles through the isopods and determine the concentrations of the particles in different sections of the digestive system. The study showed that the concentration of microplastics in the faecal material of the isopods was as high as in the food. The scientists found small amounts of microplastics both in the stomach and in the gut of the animals. However, they did not detect any microparticles in the digestive glands. "The isopods ingested and excreted the artificial food with the microplastic particles without absorbing or accumulating the particles," Gutow summarises the results. Thus, plastic particles in the specific size range studied do not represent a direct mechanical risk for isopods and probably not for other crustaceans either. "In the case of Idotea emarginata, the microplastic particles did not enter the digestive gland, which is the principle organ in crustaceans where digestion and resorption of nutrients takes place," states the biologist from AWI's North Sea Office.

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Recent Research News

Deep sea organisms are found to consume methane -News Story Source: Arrena Press, Health and Science News

study was recently published in the journal Nature Communications that found carbonate rocks to be home to methane- consuming microbes. Methane is considered a greenhouse gas which might give climate change scientists a new field of thought.The study found that many sea-floor sediments is actually filled with these microbes. They are most abundant in levels of rock containing sulfate ions, which are said to be pulled into the sediments from overlying waters. Victoria Orphan, geobiologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and co-author of the study believes the methane and sulfate ions together fuel the organisms’ metabolism. Methane seeps are sites where water containing dissolved gas leaks from the seabed and have long been evidence suggesting methane consumption. The study took samples to the lab and used a variant of methane that included the radioactive isotope carbon-14. The carbon-14 was, over time, converged with the carbonate minerals indicating a high level of “methane-munching.”The research also discovered a wide range of other microorganisms, not just the ones that feed off methane. Orphan says their findings provide a model for future investigation into the possibility of more microorganisms deeper within the Earth’s crust.

A

About the organisms The gas-consuming organisms are a form of marine microorganisms that do not require oxygen to survive. Instead, these organisms survive on sulfate ions present within seawater. Some of the organisms can be classified as archaea, which is an ancient single-celled creature currently known as ANME, or Anaerobic Methanotrophs.

The BP oil spill 2010 Researcher Samantha Joye, marine biologist with the University of Georgia disproved the popular belief that the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was completely consumed by the methane-eating organisms. The study found that only half of the oil was consumed by bacteria. The research was conducted at two-week intervals nine months following the spill. The paper indicates that the bacteria were likely over-whelmed by the amount of methane. However, their functionality still offers insight into new

--Article written by Holly Marie Green

forms of catastrophe-resolution.

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Recent Research News

Tracing evolution of chicken flu virus yields insight into origins of deadly -News Story Source: Science Daily, Microbiology News

An international research team has shown how changes in a flu virus that has plagued Chinese poultry farms for decades helped create the novel avian H7N9 influenza A virus that has sickened more than 375 people since 2013.

Credit: Ann-Margaret Hedges, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

H7N9 strain

A

n international research team has shown how changes in a flu virus that has plagued Chinese poultry farms for decades

helped create the novel avian H7N9 influenza A virus that has sickened more than 375 people since 2013. The research appears in the current online early edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The results

Underscore the need for continued surveillance of flu viruses circulating on poultry farms and identified changes in the H9N2 virus that could serve as an early warning sign of emerging flu viruses with the potential to trigger a pandemic and global health emergency. The work focused on the H9N2 chicken virus, which causes egg production to drop and leaves chickens vulnerable to deadly co-infections. Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the China Agricultural University, Beijing, led the study. Researchers used whole genome sequencing to track the evolution of the H9N2 chicken virus between 1994 and 2013.

The analysis involved thousands of viral sequences and showed that the genetic diversity of H9N2 viruses fell sharply in 2009.

From 2010 through 2013 an H9N2 virus emerged as the predominant subtype thanks to its genetic makeup that allowed it to flourish despite widespread vaccination of chickens against H9N2 viruses. Evidence in this study suggests the eruptions set the stage for the emergence of the H7N9 avian virus that has caused two outbreaks in humans since 2013, with 115 confirmed deaths. The H9N2 infected chickens likely served as the mixing vessel where H9N2 and other avian flu viruses from migratory birds and domestic ducks swapped genes, researchers noted. The resulting H7N9 virus included six genes from the H9N2.

"Sequencing the viral genome allowed us to track how H9N2 evolved across time and geography to contribute to the H7N9 virus that emerged as a threat to human health in 2013," said Robert Webster, Ph.D., a member of the St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases. He and Jinhua Liu, Ph.D., of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the China Agricultural University, are cocorresponding authors. "The insights gained from this collaboration suggest that tracking genetic diversity of H9N2 on poultry farms could provide an early warning of emerging viruses with the potential to spark a pandemic," Webster said.

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Recent Research News

What the 'fecal prints' of microbes can tell News Story Source: PHYS.ORG

Image Credit: Phys.org

us about Earth's evolution

T

he distinctive "fecal prints" of microbes potentially provide a record of how Earth and life have co-evolved over the past 3.5 billion years as the planet's temperature, oxygen levels, and greenhouse gases have changed. But, despite more than 60 years of study, it has proved difficult, until now, to "read" much of the information contained in this record. Research from McGill University and Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), sheds light on the mysterious digestive processes of microbes, opening the way towards a better understanding of how life and the planet have changed over time. Microbes have dominated the Earth's ecology for at least the past 3.5 billion years. They play a vital role in the planet's carbon cycle by digesting organic matter. So their waste potentially carries information about how the planet's temperature, greenhouse gas composition, and even oxygen levels have changed over time, along with information about how life itself has evolved to accommodate these changes. But though scientists have been trying to grasp how to interpret the information from these microbial "fecal prints" for more than sixty years, the solution has proved to be elusive until now.

Microbes are ultra-picky diners In a paper recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from McGill University and Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science describe a new technique they have developed to interpret these distinctive metabolic traces. They chose to focus on the microbes that live on the ocean floor where the microbes consume the sulfate found in seawater because oxygen is in short supply. Global temperatures, carbon dioxide concentrations, and oxygen levels all determine whether these sulfate-using microbes are living in times of plenty, and growing fast, or in times of need, and growing slowly. The record of these changes is to be found in the microbial wastes and more specifically in how much, or how little, of the sulfate compound the microbes trim off.

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Recent Research News

Cells 'feel' their surroundings using finger-like structures

Poul Martin Bendix is showing finger-like structures, called filopodia, that are tube-like protrusions from the cell membrane. They can detect the chemical environment and they can â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;feelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; their physical surroundings using ultrasensitive sensors. Credit: Ola Jakup Joensen, Niels Bohr Institute

News Story Source: PHYS.ORG

C

ells have finger-like projections that they use to feel their surroundings. They can detect the chemical environment and they can 'feel' their physical surroundings using ultrasensitive sensors. New research from the Niels Bohr Institute shows how the finger-like structures, called filopodia can extend themselves, contract and bend in dynamic movements. The results are published in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS. In many biological processes, cell interaction and communication with their environment are critical to their functioning. To feel their surroundings, the cells use finger-like structures that are actually tube-like protrusions from the cell membrane. These tubes are called filopodia and they can bring messages back to the cell about both the chemical environment and the physical surroundings. For example, the cells use the filopodia structures for correct development of the embryo, for growing nerve cells and when cells (like macrophages) need to migrate towards pathogenic bacteria in order to remove them.

"The filopodia structures are very dynamic and can both contract and elongate and bend actively in all directions. But what is it that allows them to move, how do they control their movements and what forces do they use? This is what we wanted to find out," explains Poul Martin Bendix, Associate Professor in the research group BioComplexity at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.The researchers Natascha Leijnse, Lene Oddershede and Poul Martin Bendix studied the physical properties of filopodia using an optical trap, which is a microscope where you can hold onto and influence individual living cells using a highly focused laser while you observe, measure and follow their movements. In order to follow the movements better, the researchers placed a small plastic ball on the tip of the filopodia structure and by performing ultrasensitive force measurements, they could measure the dynamic activity in the individual filopodia. In addition to the force measurements, the internal 'skeleton' of the filopodia, called actin, which is responsible for the movement of the filopodia, was marked with fluorescent markers in order to monitor the movements in the microscope.

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Recent Research News

Researchers shed light on how 'microbial dark matter' might cause disease

At left, the tight physical association between TM7x cells and XH001. At right, TM7x cells (red) attach to the surface of XH001 (white). Credit: Batbileg Bor/UCLA and Ryan Hunter/U of Minnesota

News Story Source: PHYS.ORG

O

ne of the great recent discoveries in modern biology was that the human body contains 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. But much of that bacteria is still a puzzle to scientists. It is estimated by scientists that roughly half of bacteria living in human bodies is difficult to replicate for scientific research—which is why biologists call it "microbial dark matter." Scientists, however, have long been determined to learn more about these uncultivable bacteria, because they may contribute to the development of certain debilitating and chronic diseases. For decades, one bacteria group that has posed a particular challenge for researchers is the Candidate Phylum TM7, which has been thought to cause inflammatory mucosal diseases because it is so prevalent in people with periodontitis, an infection of the gums. Now, a landmark discovery by scientists at the UCLA School of Dentistry, the J. Craig Venter Institute and the University Of Washington School Of Dentistry has revealed insights into TM7's resistance to scientific study and to its role in the progression of periodontitis and other diseases. Their findings shed new light on the biological, ecological and medical importance of TM7, and could lead to better understanding of other elusive bacteria. The team's findings are published online in the December issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."I consider this the most exciting discovery in my 30-year career," said Dr. Wenyuan Shi, a UCLA professor of oral biology. "This study provides the roadmap for us to make every uncultivable bacterium cultivable." The researchers cultivated a specific type of TM7 called TM7x, a version of TM7 found in people's mouths, and found the first known proof of a signaling interaction between the bacterium and an infectious agent called Actinomyces odontolyticus, or XH001, which causes mucosal inflammation. "Once the team grew and sequenced TM7x, we could finally piece together how it makes a living in the human body," said Dr. Jeff McLean, acting associate professor at the University Of Washington School Of Dentistry. "This may be the first example of a parasitic long-term attachment between two different bacteria—where one species lives on the surface of another species gaining essential nutrients and then decides to thank its host by attacking it."

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â&#x20AC;Ś

Recent Research News

Did

Microbes

Shape

Lifespan?

the

Human

Image Credit: The bacteria that co-inhabit our bodies may have evolved to favor the young, new research says. THINKSTOCK, discovery News Source

News Story Source: Discovery News: TIA GHOSE, Livescience

T

he microbes that live in and on humans may have evolved to preferentially take down the elderly in the population, a

new computer model suggests. That, in turn, could have allowed children a greater share of food and resources, thereby enabling an extended childhood. Such a microbial bias may also have kept the first human populations more stable and resilient to upheavals, the findings suggest.

"If you go back 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, there were only 30,000 to 40,000 people in the world and they were scattered over Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia," study co-author Glenn Webb, a mathematician at Vanderbilt University, said in a statement. "Are we lucky just to be here? Or did we survive because our ancestors were robust enough to handle all the environmental changes and natural disasters they encountered?"

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Recent Research News

New research solves old mystery of silent cell death

News Story Source: PHYS.ORG

Image Credit: Phys.Org Dr Michael White and colleagues have discovered how 'silent' cell death avoids activating the immune system.

Credit: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

W

alter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have for the first time revealed how dying cells are hidden from the immune 'police' that patrol the body. The research answers a decades-old mystery about the death of cells, which in some situations can alert the immune system to potential danger, but in other circumstances occurs 'silently', unnoticed by immune cells. Silent cell death, or apoptosis, is a controlled way for the body to eliminate cells that may be damaged, old, or surplus to the body's requirements, without causing collateral damage. This 'normal' cell death process is ignored by the immune system. In contrast, the death of cells at sites of infection or damage can alert the immune system to be on the lookout for danger. Dr Michael White, Professor Benjamin Kile and colleagues from the institute have identified how apoptotic cell death is kept silent, in research published today in the journal Cell. The team focused on the role of proteins called caspases, Dr White said. "Caspases hasten cell death by breaking down key components within the dying cell," he said. "Because apoptosis can still occur without the involvement of caspases, we investigated whether these proteins play any other role during cell death.

"We found that when cells undergo apoptosis without caspases, they release immune cell signaling molecules called interferons that set off the immune response."By dissecting the step-by-step process that occurs within dying cells, we showed one of the key roles of caspases is to suppress interferon release. This confirmed that caspases are crucial for hiding apoptotic cell death from the immune system." Professor Kile said the discovery provided new insights into the links between cell death, the immune system and disease. "Our health relies on our immune system's ability to distinguish between the millions of cells that are supposed to die in our body every day to make space for new cells, and the unexpected death of cells that signals danger," he said. "The over-reaction of immune cells to apoptosis may be a factor contributing to inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The findings also provide important insights into how the body may tolerate potential new drugs, Professor Kile said.

"Caspase-inhibiting medications are currently in clinical trials, for example being tested for their potential to keep cells alive during organ transplants. However, our work suggests that any use of these medications should be accompanied by careful monitoring of their effects on the immune system," Professor Kile said.

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Scientist Meet About: Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badaki, a Nigerian and a public health parasitologist who has spent thirteen years in university system and currently hold a tenured position at the Federal University Lokoja, Nigeria.

Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badaki

As we did in our earlier edition in this edition our team representative Ms.Rebecca Bello from Nigeria perform an interview with Dr. Jacqueline Azumi Badaki from Nigeria, our team wishes her great success in future a head, here are few interesting points of interview with her.

Microbioz team- Tell us little about your professional experience and how it will the young academics, student And our readers?

Dr. Jacqueline â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Aside teaching and research I have served as consultant to several developmental organisations and the Sudanese

Government on capacity development of academic staff of Faculty of Medicine in proposal writing. All of these have opened up research opportunities for me and it has positively had an impact on my students especially those I have mentored. Research findings and experiences from my collaborative efforts could be published in a future issue of your journal and I think your readers, who probably are from diverse culture could find it enlightening. Who knows some network could develop from it.

Microbioz team- What is the favorite part of your current job and why?

Dr. Jacqueline -Well, I could say I enjoy mentoring of students and junior faculty staff and the reason in simple-I enjoy it. It is more

of a hobby besides the fact that mentorship unlocks the talents of both students and new entrants into the academic world.

Microbioz team- How would your experience strengthen the academic department?

Dr. Jacqueline - The department is barely three years old and has a lot of young people who are engaging in academic work for the

first time and so my experience would help in nurturing some of them (especially those who want to pursue careers in parasitology) with respect to the research and work ethics.

Microbioz team- What is your best professional accomplishments?

Dr. Jacqueline - My best professional accomplishment was my first in 2001, when I received my first grant of USD 10,000 from the

World Health Organization/ African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control Microbioz team-What do you have to say about Microbioz magazine?

Dr. Jacqueline -I find it very informative not only for students and teachers of life sciences but it cuts across every level of discipline

because of its use of simple language and little use of technical terminologies.

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MICROBIOZ INDIA,

JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

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MICROBIOZ INDIA

Download Microbioz India Magazines today!!!

Find your Scholarshipsâ&#x20AC;Ś. www.microbiozindia.com

Current Open Positionsâ&#x20AC;Ś.

Research

Position

in

Department

of

Veterinary

Microbiology at GADVASU in India, 2014 About Scholarship

C

ollege of Veterinary Science at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) is inviting applications for available research position within the Department of Veterinary Microbiology. The position will include emoluments of Rs.14000 pm for the initial two years and Rs.16000 pm from 3rd year onwards + HRA@ 20%. To be eligible for this position, an applicant must be below 40 years.

Eligibility BVSc & AH degree or BSc degree in any relevant branch of Life Sciences / Biological Sciences with at least second class or equivalent.

MVSc degree in Bacteriology / Immunology/Veterinary Microbiology with research work in Bacteriology/Immunology or MSc degree in relevant subjects of Life Sciences /Biological Sciences like Microbiology/Zoology/Fisheries with research work in Bacteriology/ Immunology/Microbiology with at least second class (55% marks).

Knowledge of Punjabi up to Metric level.

How to Apply Applicants should apply by post.

Deadline The application deadline is 11th February, 2014.

For Details http://www.ugc.ac.in/

IMPRS PhD Positions for Own Proposal Elaboration in Germany, 2015 About Scholarship The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) is offering two fully funded PhD Positions funded by DAAD stipends.

Applicants will work on the research project within the area of Organism Biology. Position is open for international researchers but developing countries are particularly encouraged to apply. To be eligible, applicants should hold a MSc or equivalent degree in biology or a related discipline at the point of enrollment. The application deadline is January 15, 2015.

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MICROBIOZ INDIA,

JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

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Current Open Positions….

Eligibility Applicants should hold a MSc or equivalent degree in biology or a related discipline at the point of enrollment. The candidates have to be non-German citizens and not living in Germany for more than 15 months prior to application, and are not allowed to have finished their MSc or Diploma more than 6 years ago. Students from developing countries are particularly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply The mode of applying is online. Applicants can only apply via our three-tier electronically application process. Please do not send any other type of application by regular mail or email as they will be rejected. The application must be completed in English only. The online application produces your CV; therefore we do not require a separate CV from you. Besides the online application form, we need several documents from you. Documents that are not in English or German need to be translated.

You need to upload all the required documents as one single pdf-file. Please give yourself enough time to submit your application and do not wait until the last moment as technical difficulties or other problems might occur. The Max Planck Society and the University of Konstanz are equal opportunity employers.

Deadline The application deadline is January 15, 2015.

For Details http://www.orn.mpg.de/projects

PhD Position at University of Edinburgh in UK, 2015 About Scholarship University of Edinburgh is inviting applications for PhD positions. Applicants will work on the research project “Towards a comprehensive biophysical model of gene regulation in dendritic cells” under the supervisions of Dr Nacho Molina. UK/EU and international applicants can apply for this position. UK students can receive a full studentship award which will cover both tuition fees and living costs. Application deadline is 16 January, 2015.

Eligibility The ideal candidate should have a strong mathematical background, experience in bioinformatics and good programming skills.

How to Apply The mode of applying is online.

Deadline The application deadline is 16 January, 2015.

For Details http://www.ed.ac.uk/schoolsdepartments/biology/postgraduate/pgr/phdproj?tags=6&cw_xml=projects_institute.php#NMolina_226

Current Open Positions….

2015 Department of Biology Fully Funded PhD Studentship at University of York, UK About Scholarship University of York is offering a fully funded PhD studentship for an October 2015 start. The studentship is available to UK and EU students who meet the UK residency requirements. This 3 year studentship offers ten projects in different areas of Biology and Biochemistry. The successful candidate will be required to contribute to departmental teaching by undertaking 30 hours/year demonstrating for Biology practicals. The application deadline is 11 January 2015.

Eligibility  

Students applying for this research programme should normally have obtained an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent).

The studentships are available to UK and EU students who meet the UK residency requirements.

How to Apply Applications are made via “Select” (University’s Online Application Service). Your application can be completed in stages as online system allows you to save your progress and come back later to finish it. They do not require you to provide a sample of written work. Please select ‘2015 October, Full Time’ as your start date and then click on the ‘Start application’ button. It is very important that you write the title of the project you are applying to and the names of the project supervisors.

Deadline The application deadline is 11 January 2015.

For Details http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/biologystudentship/#tab-1

British Council IELTS Scholarship Prize for Applicants of East Asia Region, 2015 About Scholarship British Council announces IELTS Prize for students of Malaysia, Hong Kong/Macau, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The prize enables students to study any chosen course in an undergraduate or postgraduate programme of a higher institution that accepts IELTS as part of its admission requirements. Five scholars with the top scores from the whole of the East Asia region will each receive a scholarship to the value of NTD 600,000.The application deadline is 31 May, 2015.

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MICROBIOZ INDIA,

JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

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Current Open Positions….

Eligibility Be a permanent resident of Hong Kong/Macau, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.     

Begin undergraduate or postgraduate study in 2015 (academic year).

Attend a higher educational institution that accepts IELTS as part of its admission requirements.

Have a valid IELTS score obtained from the British Council on or after 1 June 2014.

Have a minimum band score of 6 in each of the four component parts of the test.

Be able to provide an acceptance letter from the attending institution by 30 June 2015.

How to Apply   

The applications are currently open for: Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong/Macau and Japan Take an IELTS test at a British Council authorized centre and receive your scores.

Download and complete the application form. An original hard copy of your application should be sent by post.

Deadline Application must be received before 31 May, 2015.

For Details http://www.britishcouncil.org/

Summer

Public

Health

Scholars

Program

(SPHSP) About Scholarship The Summer Public Health Scholars Program is a 10-week summer training program for undergraduates in their junior and senior year and recent baccalaureate degree students. The program begins with a trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to introduce students to public health professionals working at the federal level. Throughout the summer, participants receive leadership training, orientation to the public health disciplines, and real world work experience. At the conclusion of the program, interns deliver an oral presentation and submit a final paper on a public health challenge or intervention.

Eligibility      

37

U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident Students who will have completed at least two years of college at an accredited institution by the beginning of the program: Rising juniors and seniors Recent college graduates (after April 2014) who have not been accepted into a graduate program Students with an Associate degree must provide proof of acceptance into a four-year institution Minimum GPA of 2.7 African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, people with disabilities, economically-disadvantaged and LGBTQ individuals are encouraged to apply

MICROBIOZ INDIA,

JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

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Current Open Positions….

How to Apply Apply through online

Deadline January 31, 2015 @11:59 PM EST

For Details http://ps.columbia.edu/education/node/2845

James

A.

Ferguson

Emerging

Infectious

Diseases

Fellowship Program About Scholarship The Dr. James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded, nine-week summer program providing educational and professional development opportunities for fellows interested in infectious diseases research and health disparities.

Eligibility Fellows who are members of underrepresented populations (as defined by the federal government) are strongly encouraged to apply!

In order to be considered for acceptance into this program, the applicant must:   

Be currently enrolled as a full-time student in a medical, dental, pharmacy, veterinary, or public health graduate program Have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale Have the ability to commit to the length of the fellowship

How to Apply Click below to download Application guide line. http://www.kennedykrieger.org/sites/kki2.com/files/ferguson-application-guidelines-2015.pdf

Deadline January 31, 2015

For Details http://www.kennedykrieger.org/professional-training/professional-training-programs/rise-programs/ferguson-fellowship

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MICROBIOZ INDIA,

JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

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C

MICROBIOZ INDIA

January

rossWord

2015 Issue

JANUARY 2015

2

MICROBIOZ INDIA

List of winners of December

January 015

2014 Edition Rehan Ahmad

Faisalabad, Pakistan

Ujjawal Tripathi

Bhagalpur,Bihar,India

Ramkishor Kushwaha

Surat,Gujrat,India

Neetu Dwivedi

Uiversity of Banglore

Sumit Gupta

Graduate,IIT-B

Shriya Patel

MDU, Haryana, India

Nancy

University of Ilions, UK

Ashish Banerjee

Vidyasagar, University, W.B., India

Asma Beg

Faisalabad, Pakistan

S.Cuks

Singapore,(NUS)

Pavol Court

Mc Gil University, Canada

Marry D.Pamela

Medical Technology. Peru

Hints Key Down

Dear readers here we are not mentioning names of few winners because of Late submission of answers, Winners will be communicated later via e-mail for Microbioz India, Certificate.

Solve Today

This Cross Word is collected from: http://www.armoredpenguin.com

39

MICROBIOZ INDIA,

 Spiral-shaped bacteria  An organism that obtains its nut rients From dead organic matter  An organism that lives in, on, or at the Expense of another  organism without contributing to the Host’s survival  A microorganism that lives and grows in The presence of free oxygen  A potent toxin that is secreted or excreted By living organisms  Bacteria that are permanent and generally Beneficial resident s in the human body  An organism in which another, usually Parasitic organism is nourished and Harbored.  A carrier of pathogenic organisms, Especially one that can transmit a di sea Se.

Solve this cross word and forward us scanned Copy of answers by 15th of December 2014 JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

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