Microbiologists have long known that ancient, inactive viruses known as cryptic prophages can insert their genetic material into bacterial DNA. These genetic fragments allow bacteria to use ...

A new study reveals that bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment through two fundamentally different "shutdown modes," not ...

Researchers have discovered a widespread mechanism in bacteria that enhances the bacteria's defense against environmental threats. The discovery, which may be important for research into developing ...

An organism as a tenant in another - in biology, this often works quite well. ETH researchers have now shed light on how such a partnership of a cell in a cell can establish. Endosymbiosis is a ...

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown strain of microbe after analyzing samples taken from China's Tiangong space station. The new microbe strain, officially named Niallia tiangongensis, was ...

Lucinid clams, inconspicuous inhabitants of the seafloor and one of the most diverse group of animals in the ocean, rely on symbiotic bacteria for their survival. Researchers now reveal the ...

Cells are constantly on the move, whether in a developing embryo or metastatic cancer. But how do cells adapt to new environments they encounter? Traditionally, scientists have believed that cells ...

Gut bacteria rapidly adapt to processed food additives, revealing how modern diets can reshape microbial evolution worldwide.