A protein determines the shape of bacteria. Bacteria come in a wide variety of shapes, which are important for their fitness in their respective ecological niches. However, despite intensive research, ...

Viruses attack nearly every living organism on Earth. To do so, they rely on highly specialized proteins that recognize and bind to receptors on the surface of target cells, a molecular arms race that ...

New research has uncovered an extraordinary mechanism of cell division in Corynebacterium matruchotii, one of the most common bacteria living in dental plaque. The filamentous bacterium doesn't just ...

Most bacteria, including many bacterial pathogens, are surrounded by an outer protective layer of sugar molecules, known as a capsule. This primarily protects the bacteria from environmental ...

Symbiotic bacteria living inside insect cells have lost much of their DNA over hundreds of millions of years, much like the ancient microbes that evolved into mitochondria ...

Scientists assess bacterial growth trajectories to better predict infectious capacity and the conditions that aid proliferation. This article explores the key factors that influence bacterial ...