Bacteria possess unique traits with great potential for benefiting society. However, current genetic engineering methods to harness these advantages are limited to a small fraction of bacterial ...

Microbes are engaged in a never-ending battle, and they have ways of attacking each other as well as defense mechanisms. Viruses that infect bacteria are called bacteriophages, and it's generally ...

Each bacterium not only possesses a core genome that it shares with all other bacteria of its species, but also contains mobile genetic elements. This mobile, exchangeable genome can differ between ...

In the microscopic world of bacteria, gene transfer is a powerful mechanism that can alter cellular function, drive antibiotic resistance and even shape entire ecosystems. Now an interdisciplinary ...

Bacteria evolve rapidly in the human gut by sharing genetic elements with each other. Bacteriodales is a prolific order of gut bacteria that trade hundreds of genetic elements. Little is known, ...

Antibiotic resistance is a significant and growing medical problem worldwide. Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and collaborators have found a novel genetic arrangement that may ...

A component of the human intestinal flora that has been little studied to date is the focus of a new study. Plasmids are small extrachromosomal genetic elements that frequently occur in bacterial ...