This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections have become a public health crisis. Their incidence has increased in the past decades, driven by the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), but how these ARGs are acquired by bacteria in the environment is not completely known. Human interaction with the environment can spread resistant bacteria, further influencing the antibiotic resistance properties of environmental microbes. In a new study, researchers sought to characterize how human activities influence the environmental “resistome.” They surveyed the microbiome, resistome, and mobilome of planktonic microbial communities in the Han River. The study was extensive, with samples spanning the length of the river over three seasons. Using integrative metagenomic analyses, they found that fecal contamination from humans influenced the resistome in densely populated areas of the river, but interestingly, fecal bacteria weren’t the main factor influencing the ARG increase..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Tetramates are bioactive natural products that feature a pyrrolidine-2,4-dione ring. Approximately 14% of sequenced strains of Streptococcus mutans, a causative agent of human dental caries, bear the muc biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) to produce mutanocyclin (MUC). MUC is a tetramate that inhibits leukocyte activity, which protects S. mutans from the host’s immune attacks. Some S. mutans strains can also accumulate the intermediates of MUC biosynthesis called reutericyclins (RTCs), which have antibacterial activity. A recent study revealed that the feature ring in MUC is closed via lactam bond formation. This contrasts with most other tetramates, which form their rings via Dieckmann cyclization. It was found that RTC is converted to MUC via the deacylase MucF. Distribution analysis revealed that BCGs like muc are widespread in human-associated bacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

nanimate Life is an open textbook covering a very traditional biological topic, botany, in a non-traditional way. Rather than a phylogenetic approach, going group by group, the book considers what defines organisms and examines four general areas of their biology: structure (size, shape, composition and how it comes to be); reproduction (including sex when present); energy and material needs, acquisition and manipulations; and finally their interactions with conditions and with other organisms including agricultural interactions between plants and people. Although much of the text is devoted to vascular plants, the book comparatively considers ‘EBA = everything but animals’ (hence the title): plants, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants (‘algae’, as well as some bacteria and archaebacteria), fungi, and ‘fungal-like’ organisms. The book includes brief ‘fact sheets’ of fifty-nine organisms/groups that biologists should be aware of, ranging from the very familiar (corn, yeast, pines) to the unfamiliar (cryptophytes, diatoms, late-blight of potato). These groups reflect the diversity of inanimate life.

This updated edition was published in July 2022 and includes corrections, revisions, additional figures, and fact-sheets for several more groups.

The innate response to bacterial infection lies in its first-response role of detection of a foreign organism. By using the tools of Pattern-Recognition Receptors (PRRs), the innate response flags up problems while the adaptive response gets itself organized.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Giant clams are keystone species of coral reef ecosystems. Like coral, giant clams harbor a vibrant community of algae and bacteria. But unlike coral, little is known about how these microorganisms help giant clams thrive or cause them to perish. To find out, authors of a new study placed giant clams in aquariums with one or two species of coral. DNA profiling revealed that the clams were home to three distinct varieties of microbial communities, or “microbiotypes”. Interestingly, these microbiotypes weren’t altered by changes in water temperature or by the type of coral species placed near clams. But dying clams did show one trait in common—an overwhelming presence of bacteria from the vibrionaceae family, which in humans are usually associated with infection from eating undercooked seafood. What’s more, clams died most frequently around coral of the species Acropora cytherea. That suggests that Acropora cytherea could make giant clams susceptible to infection by vibrionaceae bacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The intestinal tract is home to a variety of microbes that live in a delicate balance with their host. Although this symbiosis is well-studied for bacteria, gut fungi (mycobiota) are often neglected due to their lower abundance in the gut microbiome. While fungi are traditionally investigated using culture-dependent methods, next-generation sequencing has allowed for more in-depth understanding. Fungi may colonize the gut as soon as birth, and the gut mycobiota can be affected by many factors throughout life, such as the environment, diet and nutrition, and the seasons. Gut fungi regulate many physiological functions in their hosts, including metabolism, control of aging, and disease progression. Immune homeostasis, in particular, is linked to gut mycobiota, and fungi can affect both innate and adaptive immune responses in the gut. Gut mycobiota have also been linked with intestinal diseases, and imbalanced fungal community composition can alter intestinal homeostasis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This presentation provides an introduction to diarrheal diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites and other disease causing agents or pathogens. Furthermore, we’ll look at the range of syndromes associated with diarrhea and uncover two significant pathogens: rotavirus and vibrio cholera. Finally, we’ll delve into methods for managing diarrheal diseases and the significance of sanitation in preventing diarrheal diseases.

7.016 Introductory Biology provides an introduction to fundamental principles of biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics for understanding the functions of living systems. Taught for the first time in Fall 2013, this course covers examples of the use of chemical biology and twenty-first-century molecular genetics in understanding human health and therapeutic intervention.
The MIT Biology Department Introductory Biology courses 7.012, 7.013, 7.014, 7.015, and 7.016 all cover the same core material, which includes the fundamental principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology. Biological function at the molecular level is particularly emphasized and covers the structure and regulation of genes, as well as the structure and synthesis of proteins, how these molecules are integrated into cells, and how these cells are integrated into multicellular systems and organisms. In addition, each version of the subject has its own distinctive material.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Obesity is rapidly becoming a critical health concern globally. Growing evidence connects the microbiota-gut-brain axis to the pathophysiology of obesity. Gut bacteria can produce proteins that influence our hormonal and metabolic pathways, regulating satiety and hunger hormones. One such protein is ClpB, a chaperone protein expressed by E. coli. ClpB mimics the body’s hormones -- promoting satiety and regulating energy, blood pressure, and growth. A recent study examined the association between gut bacterial ClpB-like gene function and obesity. Using DNA sequencing and metabolomics, the researchers examined gut bacteria from people with or without obesity. They found that the bacterial species associated with more ClpB-like gene function were reduced in subjects with obesity and important bacterial characteristics, such as high ClpB expression and a negative association with obesity, could be transferred to mice through fecal transplantation..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Ruminants are the only animals not dependent on dietary amino acids as a source of nitrogen. They have ureolytic bacteria in their rumen that hydrolyze urea into ammonia and use it as a nitrogen source. However, very few ureolytic bacteria have been isolated and studied in pure culture to date. To close this gap, researchers established and used a new integrated approach on bacteria from cattle rumens. They started with urease gene (ureC) guided enrichment and then embedded single cells in agarose microspheres for in situ cultivation. This allowed them to isolate and characterize diverse ureolytic bacteria with demonstrated urease activity. The researchers sequenced a subset of the isolated bacteria and found 28 strains from 12 species with urease genes. These bacterial species had not previously been found in the rumen, but this team detected them in metagenomes from 6 ruminant species. The new strains contained unique genes compared to known related strains, indicating new metabolic functions..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Animals and plants have close relationships with the bacteria on their surfaces and macroalgae — like kelp — are no different. The spatial structure of these microbial communities can impact how they interact with their neighbors, host, and environment. A recent study used spectral imaging to characterize the spatial structure of the bacteria on _Nereocystis luetkeana_. The kelp hosted a dense microbial biofilm that consisted of closely associated, but diverse, microbial taxa. For example, Gammaproteobacteria were found close to the kelp surface, and filamentous Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria were concentrated near the biofilm-seawater interface. Bacterial density also varied along the length of the kelp blades with density increasing from new tissue at the base to older tissue at the blade tips. Between kelp populations, declining populations hosted fewer microbial cells than kelp from a stable population. This study characterized the dense, spatially differentiated community on _N..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This lesson plan explains how seeds can be dispersed, describes seed adaptations to ensure dispersal and explain the importance of this process.

The purpose of this lesson plan is to learn about the process and importance of decomposition while creating actual compost.

This unit covers the processes of photosynthesis, extinction, biomimicry and bioremediation. In the first lesson on photosynthesis, students learn how engineers use the natural process of photosynthesis as an exemplary model of a complex yet efficient process for converting solar energy to chemical energy or distributing water throughout a system. In the next lesson on species extinction, students learn that it is happening at an alarming rate. Students discover that the destruction of habitat is the main reason many species are threatened and how engineers are trying to stop this habitat destruction. The third lesson introduces students to the idea of biomimicry or looking to nature for engineering ideas. And, in the fourth and final lesson, students learn about a specialty branch of engineering called bioremediation the use of living organisms to aid in the clean up of pollutant spills.

In this activity on page 1 of the PDF, learners compare the relative sizes of biological objects (like DNA and bacteria) that can't be seen by the naked eye. Learners will be surprised to discover the range of sizes in the microscopic world. This activity can be followed up with a second activity, "What's in a microbe?", located on page 3 in the same resource.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Postpartum systemic oxidative stress is common in dairy cows and can lead to health complications and production loss. While the gut microbiota can influence host health and stress, its role in dairy cow postpartum oxidative stress was unclear until a recent study found a strong link between the fecal microbiota and postpartum oxidative stress in dairy cows. Compared to low oxidative stress (LOS) cows, those with high oxidative stress (HOS) had altered bacterial community composition, including 16 species from 9 genera that were negatively correlated with oxidative stress. There were also changes in the microbiota’s functional behavior and related metabolites, and the findings suggested that changes in glutathione synthesis played a causative role in oxidative stress. Specifically, HOS cows had reduced microbial metabolism of amino acids involved in glutathione synthesis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Advances in genomic laboratory and bioinformatics techniques have allowed us to infer microbial ecology information from genomes. This ability has led to great advances in microbiome science; however, there is not yet a standard comprehensive workflow for functional annotation. Some software tools annotate metabolic functions, but the new tool 'METABOLIC' improves upon this and expands into biogeochemical pathways like the carbon cycle. METABOLIC takes sequence inputs from isolates, metagenome-assembled genomes, or single-cell genomes. The data can be processed through two workflow scales: genome and/or community. The genome-scale workflow annotates the genomes and validates motifs of conserved protein residues. It also analyzes metabolic pathways and calculates the microbial contributions to individual biogeochemical processes and cycles. The community-scale workflow adds to this by first determining the genome abundance in the microbiome..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Where the tropical ocean meets the sea, a peculiar kind of plant thrives in shallow, salty water. These mangrove plants are incredibly important for shoreline protection and baby fish habitats. In this video, Jonathan investigates life in mangroves by visiting both Caribbean and Pacific mangroves. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Global urbanization is driving a flood of plastic pollution, and we desperately need ways to break these plastics down. And plastic-eating insects may be able to help. Such insects leverage their gut microbes to degrade plastic polymers, but little is known about how insects acquired this ability. To learn more, researchers examined the mealworm gut microbiome’s response to different diets. The bonds in synthetic plastic polymers can resemble those in natural polymers. Polystyrene, for example, has bonds like lignin, a polymer found in all vascular plants. So, the researchers fed mealworms polystyrene or corn straw, which is high in lignin. Neither experimental diet had a negative effect on the mealworms’ survival compared to a normal cabbage diet. Both polymer-heavy diets led to similar gut microbial community structures, metabolic pathways, and enzymatic profiles..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.