MICROBIOLOGY: Malaria Breaks Out

Swine flu breaks out on Vancouver Island.

Muscling out malaria.

The great escape: Pseudomonas breaks out of the lung

The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections and the focus of much attention due to its resistance to many conventional antibiotics. It harbors a wide range of disease-promoting virulence factors, including a type III secretion system. Here we review our recent study of ExoS, one of the effector proteins exported by this type III secretion ...

The Coming-Out of Malaria Gametocytes

The tropical disease malaria, which results in more than one million deaths annually, is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium and transmitted by blood-feeding Anopheline mosquitoes. Parasite transition from the human host to the mosquito vector is mediated by gametocytes, sexual stages that are formed in human erythrocytes, which therefore play a crucial part in the spread of t...

Special Rumen Microbiology

Bacteria make up about half of the living organisms inside of the rumen. However, they do more than half of the work in the rumen. The bacteria work together. Some breakdown certain carbohydrates and proteins which are then used by others. Some require certain growth factors, such as B-vitamins, which are made by others. Some bacteria help to clean up the rumen of others’ end products, such as ...