​A new, extremely precise technique has been developed that allows the identification of the metabolic function and genome of soil bacteria one bacterial cell at a time instead of having to analyze millions all at once. The process should permit 'mining' of soil for bacteria of particular biological or industrial interest.Researchers from the Single-Cell Center at the Qingdao Institute of Bioe...

By combining the‘chassis’ of an oil-producing microalgae with genes from a Cuphea plant, scientists from Single-Cell Center, Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) can turn the algae into a microbial cell factory that can produce various oils with different properties.The study was published in Metabolic Engineering onApril 3...

[Summary] A single-celled algae hasundergone genome surgery to remove non-essential parts. This can lead to a most efficient cellular factory for producing sustainable biofuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide.Researchers have stripped hundred-kilobase genomefroma type of oil-producingmicroalgae, knocking out genes non-essential for it to function. By doing so, they have created a "genome scalp...

Poor oral hygiene produces gum-disease bacteria and accelerates oral microbiome aging faster than previously thought.A new study shows that within 24-72 hours of the interruption of oral hygiene, there was a steep decrease in the presence of 'good oral bacteria' and the beneficial anti-inflammatory chemicals they are associated with. An increase of 'bad bacteria' typically present in the mouths...

Metagenomics - the study of genetic material from an environmental sample - is growing as species evolve or are discovered across the globe. To correlate the newly developed microbiomes with existing data sets, a team of researchers based in China has developed the Microbiome Search Engine 2 (MSE 2). Itwas published onJan. 19 in mSystems, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.Fig. ...

A new algorithm may reduce the need for expensive, time-consuming whole-genome sequencing computations to understand howamicrobiome functions. A team led byJINGGongchao of the Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)and SU Xiaoquan of Qingdao University, published their approach, called Meta-Apo, on Jan. 6 in BMC Genomics.Fig. 1 Meta-A...

Cancer cells are smart when it comes to anti-cancer drugs, evolving and becoming resistant to even the strongest chemotherapies over time. To combat this evasive behavior, researchers have developed a methodnamed D2O-probed CANcer Susceptibility Test Ramanometry (D2O-CANST-R; Fig. 1) to see, at single-cell/organelle level, how pharmaceuticals induce cancer cell death and how cancer cells adapt....

Industrial oil-producing microalgae can use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into oils on a large scale. Therefore, it is a potential solution for the sustainable supply of food, nutrition and fuel for human society.To promote resource sharing and research cooperation for the synthetic biology and molecular breeding of industrial oil-producing microalgae, an international team l...

Enzymes are molecules that catalyze metabolisms. Discovery and mining of enzymes, such as those producing oils or fixing carbon dioxide, have been a key mission of the biotechnology industry. However,...

A new function-based sequencing technique using optical tweezers and taking advantage of the properties of gravity is letting researchers analyze bacteria cells one by one. The study, conducted by res...