Tootfinder

🦠 Common food bacteria could help make vitamins cheaper and greener
#food

Common food bacteria could help make vitamins cheaper and greener
A new study reveals how Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis), a common food bacterium, regulates the production of a key precursor in vitamin K₂ (menaquinone) biosynthesis. The bacteria produce enough of this precursor to support their growth while preventing toxic buildup.

"Compost Bacteria for Cancer Treatment: Scientists Develop Breakthrough Drug Delivery System"
#Vaccines #Health #Compost

Compost Bacteria for Cancer Treatment: Scientists Develop Breakthrough Drug Delivery System | Happy Eco News
Compost bacteria for cancer treatment represents a breakthrough discovery by Australian scientists who developed protein cages that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to tumors. This targeted approach could eliminate devastating side effects like hair loss and nausea that plague current cancer patients, revolutionizing how doctors treat various cancers worldwide.

OTD in 1977 Carl Woese and George Fox redrew the tree of life.
They proposed a third “urkingdom”
—the “archaebacteria”
—in addition to eukaryotes and bacteria.
Woese later called this taxon “Archea.”
AFAIK, he didn’t publish his famous tree diagram until the late 80s.
🐋🌱🧪 #HistSTM 🗃️🧠 #evobio

Greg Priest (@gregpriest.bsky.social)
OTD in 1977 Carl Woese and George Fox redrew the tree of life. They proposed a third “urkingdom”—the “archaebacteria”—in addition to eukaryotes and bacteria. Woese later called this taxon “Archea.” AFAIK, he didn’t publish his famous tree diagram until the late 80s. 🐋🌱🧪 #HistSTM 🗃️🧠 #evobio 🐡

CMAP boom?

I would do this daily (or how ever often is necessary) to rarely get sick again!
https://sfba.social/@nwchapman/115124195881987830

🌳 Novel research reveals thriving microbial life in trees
#trees

Novel research reveals thriving microbial life in trees
There's a thriving community of diverse microbes living in tree wood, a new study led by a Yale School of the Environment team of scientists has found. A single tree hosts about one trillion bacteria in its woody tissue.

Boundary layer effects induced by the fluid in a chemotaxis-Navier-Stokes system
Qianqian Hou
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.03028 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.0…

Boundary layer effects induced by the fluid in a chemotaxis-Navier-Stokes system
This paper is concerned with the boundary layer problem on a chemotaxis-Navier-Stokes system modelling the boundary layer formation of aerobic bacteria in fluids. Completing this system with Neumann boundary conditions on oxygen, we show that gradients of its second solution component in the half plane of $\mathbb{R}^2$ possess boundary layer effects as the oxygen diffusion rate goes to zero. However, neglecting the influence of the fluid, gradients of solutions to the chemotaxis-only subsystem…

family is sharing bacteria & viruses

👍
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/29/soil-sandpit-children-dirty-biodiversity-finnish-nurseries-research-microbes-bacteria-aoe?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other…

👍
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/29/soil-sandpit-children-dirty-biodiversity-finnish-nurseries-research-microbes-bacteria-aoe?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other…

Most of Windermere polluted with sewage bacteria, finds biggest survey of its kind https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/19/most-of-windermere-polluted-with-sewage-bacteria-finds-biggest-survey-of-its-kind

ecoli_transcription: E. coli transcription network (2002)
Network of operons and their pairwise interactions, via transcription factor-based regulation, within the bacteria Escherichia coli.
This network has 424 nodes and 577 edges.
Tags: Biological, Gene regulation, Unweighted
https://networks.s…

Friend or Foe
Oleksandr Cherendichenko, Josephine Solowiej-Wedderburn, Laura M. Carroll, Eric Libby
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.00123 https://arxiv.org/pdf/…

Friend or Foe
A fundamental challenge in microbial ecology is determining whether bacteria compete or cooperate in different environmental conditions. With recent advances in genome-scale metabolic models, we are now capable of simulating interactions between thousands of pairs of bacteria in thousands of different environmental settings at a scale infeasible experimentally. These approaches can generate tremendous amounts of data that can be exploited by state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to uncov…

Optimization of sequential therapies to maximize extinction of resistant bacteria through collateral sensitivity
Javier Molina-Hern\'andez, Jos\'e A. Cuesta, Beatriz Pascual-Escudero, Sa\'ul Ares, Pablo Catal\'an
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.01808

Optimization of sequential therapies to maximize extinction of resistant bacteria through collateral sensitivity
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens global health. A promising and underexplored strategy to tackle this problem are sequential therapies exploiting collateral sensitivity (CS), whereby resistance to one drug increases sensitivity to another. Here, we develop a four-genotype stochastic birth-death model with two bacteriostatic antibiotics to identify switching periods that maximize bacterial extinction under subinhibitory concentrations. We show that extinction probability depends nonlinea…

Why was I today years old when I learned about bio-photovoltaics?
This is a technology which instead of using silicon wafers as the basis for photovoltaic cells, uses a sandwich comprising
1. A transparent window, to allow sunlight in;
2. Algae, to photosynthesise sugars;
3. A membrane to keep the algae separate from the bacteria;
4. Bacteria, which consume sugar and generate electricity;
5. A filter, to allow the biological components to breathe.
#1/2

Experimentally co-evolved E. coli and yeast achieve stable coexistence — and the coevolved E. coli, but not the yeast, is able to resist invasion by other bacterial strains
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-025-02618-w

Researchers say they used generative AI algorithms to design novel antibiotics targeting drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and MRSA (Anne Trafton/MIT News)
https://news.mit.edu/2025/using-generative-ai-researchers-design-compoun…

Using generative AI, researchers design compounds that can kill drug-resistant bacteria
With help from artificial intelligence, MIT researchers designed novel antibiotics that can combat a drug-resistant form of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

🚀 Rocket test proves bacteria survive space launch and re-entry unharmed
#bacteria…

Rocket test proves bacteria survive space launch and re-entry unharmed
A world-first study has proven microbes essential for human health can survive the extreme forces of space launch. The study has been published in npj Microgravity.

A practical application of AI in research.
https://news.mit.edu/2025/using-genera

Using generative AI, researchers design compounds that can kill drug-resistant bacteria
With help from artificial intelligence, MIT researchers designed novel antibiotics that can combat a drug-resistant form of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Crosslisted article(s) found for physics.bio-ph. https://arxiv.org/list/physics.bio-ph/new
[1/1]:
- Optimization of sequential therapies to maximize extinction of resistant bacteria through collate...
Javier Molina-Hern\'andez, Jos\'e A. Cuesta, Beatriz Pascual-Escu…

ecoli_transcription: E. coli transcription network (2002)
Network of operons and their pairwise interactions, via transcription factor-based regulation, within the bacteria Escherichia coli.
This network has 424 nodes and 577 edges.
Tags: Biological, Gene regulation, Unweighted
https://networks.s…

BactoBot: A Low-Cost, Bacteria-Inspired Soft Underwater Robot for Marine Exploration
Rubaiyat Tasnim Chowdhury, Nayan Bala, Ronojoy Roy, Tarek Mahmud
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.20964

BactoBot: A Low-Cost, Bacteria-Inspired Soft Underwater Robot for Marine Exploration
Traditional rigid underwater vehicles pose risks to delicate marine ecosystems. This paper presents BactoBot, a low-cost, soft underwater robot designed for safe and gentle marine exploration. Inspired by bacterial flagellar propulsion, BactoBot features 12 flexible, silicone-based arms arranged on a 3D-printed dodecahedral frame. The design provides inherent compliance, redundancy, and the potential for omnidirectional movement. The prototype was fabricated using accessible DIY methods, includ…

Effects of Near-Field Hydrodynamic Interactions on Bacterial Dynamics Near a Solid Surface
Baopi Liu, Lu Chen, Haiqin Wang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.17626 https://

Effects of Near-Field Hydrodynamic Interactions on Bacterial Dynamics Near a Solid Surface
Near-field hydrodynamic interactions between bacteria and no-slip solid surfaces are the main mechanism underlying surface entrapment of bacteria. In this study, we employ a chiral two-body model to simulate bacterial dynamics near the surface. The simulation results show that as bacteria approach the surface, their translational and rotational velocities, as well as their diffusion coefficients, decrease. Under the combination of near-field hydrodynamic interactions and DLVO forces, bacteria r…

“In front of the United Cigar Store this evening the men were gathered to burn dirigibles, sink battleships, blow up dynamite works and, all in all, savor the very bacteria in their porcelain mouths that would someday stop them cold.”
--From Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
That man was tripping. It might have been brain chemicals alone, but nobody else used those chemicals like that.
#Writing

⚡ Living cement: Scientists turn bacteria-infused cement into energy-storing supercapacitors
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-cement-scientists-bacteria-infused-energy.html

Living cement: Scientists turn bacteria-infused cement into energy-storing supercapacitors
Imagine a house that doesn't just shelter you but also stores electricity. It may sound like science fiction, but it's now closer to reality than ever before. A research team at Aarhus University has demonstrated how the world's most widely used building material can be transformed into a living energy device. By embedding energy-producing bacteria in cement, they have created a biohybrid supercapacitor with surprisingly high performance and a remarkable ability to regenerate itself over time.

Bacteria in Spacecraft Clean Rooms Can Go Dormant, Evading Death | Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bacteria-in-spacecraft-clean-rooms-can-go-dormant-evading-death/

"How a radical experiment to bring a forest into a preschool transformed children’s health"
#Education #Children #Environment

🧲 Bacteria that 'breathe' iron minerals while detoxifying sulfide outpace chemical reactions
https://phys.org/news/2025-08-bacteria-iron-minerals-detoxifying-sulfide.html

Bacteria that 'breathe' iron minerals while detoxifying sulfide outpace chemical reactions
An international team of scientists led by microbiologists Marc Mussmann and Alexander Loy from the University of Vienna has discovered a new microbial metabolism: so-called MISO bacteria "breathe" iron minerals by oxidizing toxic sulfide.

Bats are one of the few animals that I genuinely don't enjoy being around.... but I still want them to thrive!
This is really great news that a Canadian researcher might have found a treatment for white-nose syndrome!
" B.C.-based scientist Cori Lausen, nicknamed Bat Lady by her peers, believes a probiotic formula may be capable of saving them. This cocktail is a blend of four bacterial strains that suppress the fungus. These bacteria are naturally found in some bats, but not all. ”
#Bats #health #nature
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bats-white-nose-syndrome-probiotic-9.6948885

Rotational dynamics of bound pairs of bacteria-induced membrane tubes
Makarand Diwe, P B Sunil Kumar, Pramod Pullarkat
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14612 https://

Rotational dynamics of bound pairs of bacteria-induced membrane tubes
We present experiments demonstrating tube formation in giant unilamellar vesicles that are suspended in a bath of swimming E. coli bacteria. We chose the lipids such that the bacteria have no adhereing interaction with the membrane. The tubes are generated by the pushing force exerted by the bacteria on the membrane of the vesicles. Once generated, the bacteria are confined within the tubes, resulting in long-lived tubes that protrude into the vesicle. We show that such tubes interact to form s…

Recipes are full of directions like “when the top starts to brown” or “when it is firm to the touch but not hard.”
Very often, the thing the directions are taking about is not the actual important trait, but a •proxy• for something important you can’t see directly. Maybe the inside of the bread is fully baked when the top starts to brown. Maybe dangerous bacteria are killed when the quiche is firm to the touch. (I am making this up; don’t @ me about quiche.)
Proxy indicators, heuristics, rules of thumb, call them what you like: they’re essential in cooking.
2/

Structured Interactions Drive Abrupt Transitions in the Spatial Organization of Microbial Communities
Mattia Mattei, David Soriano Pa\~nos, Mahantesh Halappanavar, Alex Arenas
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.01365

Structured Interactions Drive Abrupt Transitions in the Spatial Organization of Microbial Communities
Bacteria possess diverse mechanisms to regulate their motility in response to environmental and physiological signals, enabling them to navigate complex habitats and adapt their behavior. Among these mechanisms, interspecies recognition enables cells to modulate their movement based on the ecological identity of neighboring species. Here, we introduce a model in which we assume bacterial species recognizes each other and interact via local signals that either enhance or suppress the motility of…

Identifiability, Sensitivity, and Genetic Algorithms in Bacterial Biofilm Selection Models
Stephen Williams, Daravuth Cheam, Michele K. Nishiguchi, Suzanne S. Sindi, Shilpa Khatri, Erica M. Rutter
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20219

Identifiability, Sensitivity, and Genetic Algorithms in Bacterial Biofilm Selection Models
Bacteria often develop distinct phenotypes to adapt to environmental stress. In particular, they can produce biofilms, dense communities of bacteria that live in a complex extracellular matrix. Bacterial biofilms provide a safe haven from environmental conditions by distributing metabolic workload and allowing them to perform complex multicellular processes. While previous studies have investigated how bacterial biofilms are regulated under laboratory conditions, they have not considered (1) th…

MC for Gastroretentive Drug Delivery
Sebastian Lotter, Marco Seiter, Maryam Pirmoradi, Lukas Brand, Dagmar Fischer, Robert Schober
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19739 https://

MC for Gastroretentive Drug Delivery
Recently, bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), a biological material produced by non-pathogenic bacteria that possesses excellent material properties for various medical applications, has received increased interest as a carrier system for drug delivery. However, the vast majority of existing studies on drug release from BNC are feasibility studies with modeling and design aspects remaining largely unexplored. To narrow this research gap, this paper proposes a novel model for the drug release from BN…

I remember the claims from 30 or so years ago that only conventional high input agriculture could feed the world - support by data on yields of organic farming vs high input farming. And I remember the counter argument - that growing organic products on land that had been degraded, was bound to produce lower yields. (Organic certification required a several year transition phase.) And now I see:
"A critical challenge for many farms transitioning to regenerative farming is that …

I remember the claims from 30 or so years ago that only conventional high input agriculture could feed the world - support by data on yields of organic farming vs high input farming. And I remember the counter argument - that growing organic products on land that had been degraded, was bound to produce lower yields. (Organic certification required a several year transition phase.) And now I see:
"A critical challenge for many farms transitioning to regenerative farming is that …

Do children receive too many vaccines in too short of a period of time? Something I read on birdsite years ago put this in perspective.
Every day, our immune systems are exposed to antigens from bacteria, virus, fungi, & parasites, including many that can't infect humans. Also, non-pathogens such as plant pollens and the foods we eat.
In that context, a few vaccines are not a big increase.

Unlike cheese, stinky tofu fermentation does not have a fixed formula for starter bacteria; wide regional and individual variations exist in manufacturing and preparation.

Does anyone have experience with Vegan Natto? There's some at my local Korean market, but I'm unsure if it's Vegan.
From reading online, I've found that generally it's considered Vegan... with the possible exception of any flavour packets included. But I've also read that the fermentation bacteria can be animal sourced, so I'm not sure.
#Vegan #AsianFood #Natto

Interesting! The Swedes have found that if they add the enzyme endolysin to antibiotics, that they can work again against resistant bacteria.

🪤 Trapping gut bacteria's hidden fuel improves blood sugar and liver health, study shows
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-gut-bacteria-hidden-fuel-blood.html

Trapping gut bacteria's hidden fuel improves blood sugar and liver health, study shows
A team of Canadian scientists has discovered a surprising new way to improve blood sugar levels and reduce liver damage: by trapping a little-known fuel made by gut bacteria before they wreak havoc on the body.

Stabilizing by steering: Enhancing bacterial motility by non-uniform diffusiophoresis
Viet Sang Doan, Ali Nikkhah, Sangwoo Shin
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25770 https://

Stabilizing by steering: Enhancing bacterial motility by non-uniform diffusiophoresis
Bacteria are often required to navigate across confined spaces to reach desired destinations in biological and environmental systems, allowing critical functions in host-microbe symbiosis, infection, drug delivery, soil ecology, and soil bioremediation. While the canonical run-and-tumble motility is effective in finding targets under confinement, it may not represent the most ideal strategy due to the continuous monitoring of environmental cues and stochastic recorrection of their paths. Here, …

In-vitro Anti-bacterial Activity of Methanol and Aqueous Crude Extracts of Horsfieldia iryaghedhi
RMHKK Rajapaksha, EMN Fernando, AWMKK Bandara, NRM Nelumdeniya, ARN Silva
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19025

In-vitro Anti-bacterial Activity of Methanol and Aqueous Crude Extracts of Horsfieldia iryaghedhi
Aims: Over the past two decades, the rise of multidrug resistance (MDR) in bacteria has posed a significant threat to global health. The urgent need for new treatment alternatives has brought attention to the potential of plants, which harbor a wealth of unexplored phytochemicals with therapeutic properties. This study aims to evaluate the anti-bacterial efficacy of methanol and aqueous extracts from the leaves and bark of Horsfieldia iryaghedhi In vitro. Methodology: Aqueous and methanol extra…

RNA-binding antiterminators: regulation of metabolism and pathogenicity in bacteria
Diane Soussan, Ali Tahrioui, Rafael Ruiz de la Haba, Adrien Forge, Sylvie Chevalier, Olivier Lesouhaitier, C\'ecile Muller
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12293

RNA-binding antiterminators: regulation of metabolism and pathogenicity in bacteria
Antiterminators are essential components of bacterial transcriptional regulation, allowing the control of gene expression in response to fluctuating environmental conditions. Among them, RNA-binding antiterminator proteins play a major role in preventing transcription termination by binding to specific RNA sequences. These RNA-binding antiterminators have been extensively studied for their role in regulating various metabolic pathways. However, their function in modulating the physiology of pat…

This dog used to sniff out cold cases for police. Now she’s saving bees. https://wapo.st/4mBconY

This dog used to sniff out cold cases for police. Now she’s saving bees.
Maple sniffs bee colonies for bacteria. Her team hopes she can become a blueprint for other dogs to detect diseases amid a staggering year for bee death.

Bacteria collective motion is scale-free
Benjamin Perez-Estay, Vincent Martinez, Carine Douarche, Jana Schwarz-Linek, Jochen Arlt, Pierre-Henri Delville, Gail McConnell, Wilson C. K. Poon, Anke Lindner, Eric Clement
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15918

Bacteria collective motion is scale-free
Suspensions of swimming bacteria interact hydrodynamically over long ranges, organizing themselves into collective states that drive large-scale chaotic flows, often referred to as "bacterial turbulence". Despite extensive experimental and theoretical work, it remains unclear whether an intrinsic length scale underlies the observed patterns. To shed light on the mechanism driving active turbulence, we investigate the emergence of large-scale flows in E. coli suspensions confined within cylindri…

ecoli_transcription: E. coli transcription network (2002)
Network of operons and their pairwise interactions, via transcription factor-based regulation, within the bacteria Escherichia coli.
This network has 424 nodes and 577 edges.
Tags: Biological, Gene regulation, Unweighted
https://networks.s…

Pollution hotspots at England's most famous lake need 'urgent' action #England

Pollution hotspots at England's most famous lake need 'urgent' action
Hotspots of bacteria and phosphorus at England's most famous lake must be addressed urgently, the authors of a study into its water quality warned on Tuesday.

🦠 Metabolism of Terephthalic Acid by a Novel Bacterial Consortium Produces Valuable By-Products
#bacteria

Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots enhance bacteria growth and biosensing signals
David Rutherford, Marketa \v{S}lapal Ba\v{r}inkov\'a, Jaroslav Kuli\v{c}ek, Jelena Kozic, Jovana Prekodravac Filipovi\'c, Bohuslav Rezek
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.06454

Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots enhance bacteria growth and biosensing signals
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are known for their antibacterial properties and ability to inhibit bacteria growth. In the current study, we observed a dopant and concentration-dependency on the antibacterial effect of CQDs. High concentrations of CQDs completely inhibited bacteria growth yet low concentrations enhanced growth. Unlike undoped CQDs, nitrogen-doped CQDs (N-CQDs) enhanced bacteria growth in a concentration-dependant manner and nitrogen/iron co-doped CQDs (Fe/N-CQDs) resulted in growth…

ecoli_transcription: E. coli transcription network (2002)
Network of operons and their pairwise interactions, via transcription factor-based regulation, within the bacteria Escherichia coli.
This network has 423 nodes and 578 edges.
Tags: Biological, Gene regulation, Unweighted
https://networks.s…

Stability and uniqueness of bounded weak solutions to triangular degenerate cross-diffusion systems
Xiuqing Chen, Bang Du, Ansgar J\"ungel
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.17379 …

Stability and uniqueness of bounded weak solutions to triangular degenerate cross-diffusion systems
The continuous dependence on the initial data and consequently the uniqueness of bounded weak solutions to a class of triangular reaction-cross-diffusion equations is shown. The class includes doubly degenerate equations for nutrient taxis models describing the response of bacteria to nutrient conditions. The proof is based on a careful use of the $H^{-1}$ method. The present manuscript is in draft form and will be revised soon.

Evaluation of in vitro antibacterial activity and phytochemical profile of aqueous leaf extract of Asystasia variabilis
R Wijerathna, NAV Asanthi, WD Ratnasooriya, RN Pathirana, NRM Nelumdeniya
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19049

Evaluation of in vitro antibacterial activity and phytochemical profile of aqueous leaf extract of Asystasia variabilis
This study evaluated the in vitro antibacterial effect and the phytochemical profile of aqueous extract of fresh mature leaves of Asystasia variabilis, a Sri Lankan indigenous plant, against four common wound infective bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test. Gentamicin 10 μg/ disk and distilled water was used as positive and negative controls respectively The study revealed, for the first time, that…

"Growing cocktail of medicines in world’s waterways could be fuelling antibiotic resistance"
#Water #Pollution #Environment

Growing cocktail of medicines in world’s waterways could be fuelling antibiotic resistance
Every flush sends traces of our medicines into rivers. When antibiotics mix with common drugs like painkillers or hormones, bacteria can evolve to resist treatment.

ecoli_transcription: E. coli transcription network (2002)
Network of operons and their pairwise interactions, via transcription factor-based regulation, within the bacteria Escherichia coli.
This network has 423 nodes and 578 edges.
Tags: Biological, Gene regulation, Unweighted
https://networks.s…

Confinement reduces surface accumulation of swimming bacteria
Da Wei, Shiyuan Hu, Tangmiao Tang, Yaochen Yang, Fanlong Meng, Yi Peng
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.08092 https://

Confinement reduces surface accumulation of swimming bacteria
Many swimming bacteria naturally inhabit confined environments, yet how confinement influences their swimming behaviors remains unclear. Here, we combine experiments, continuum modeling and particle-based simulations to investigate near-surface bacterial swimming in dilute suspensions under varying confinement. Confinement reduces near-surface accumulation and facilitates bacterial escape. These effects are quantitatively captured by models incorporating the force quadrupole, a higher-order hyd…

"How microbes could help solve the world's plastic pollution crisis"
#Pastic #Plastics #Pollution

How microbes could help solve the world's plastic pollution crisis
With conventional waste management systems falling short, many scientists are turning to nature for innovative solutions to the issue of plastic waste. One promising avenue is microbial degradation: harnessing the natural abilities of certain bacteria and fungi to break down plastics in ways that current technologies cannot.

🦠 Global initiative launches to prioritize conservation of vital microbial life
#bacteria

Global initiative launches to prioritize conservation of vital microbial life
Microbes include bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae and archaea (single-celled microorganisms with a bacteria-like structure). They are invisible to the human eye, but they play a huge role, shaping ecosystems, producing food and regulating disease.

ecoli_transcription: E. coli transcription network (2002)
Network of operons and their pairwise interactions, via transcription factor-based regulation, within the bacteria Escherichia coli.
This network has 423 nodes and 578 edges.
Tags: Biological, Gene regulation, Unweighted
https://networks.s…

🐜 Scientists revive old Bulgarian recipe to make yogurt with ants
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/10/how-ants-can-kick-start-fermentation-to-make-yogurt/

Scientists revive old Bulgarian recipe to make yogurt with ants
Ants carry lactic and acetic acid bacteria that help coagulate milk, as well as formic acid to acidify it.

Reaction enhancement by flux-limited chemotaxis
Jing An, Alexander Kiselev, Yao Yao
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13704 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.13704

Reaction enhancement by flux-limited chemotaxis
Chemotaxis plays a crucial role in a variety of processes in biology and ecology. Quite often it acts to improve efficiency of biological reactions; one example is the immune system signalling, where infected tissues release chemokines attracting monocytes to fight invading bacteria. Another example is reproduction, where eggs release pheromones that attract sperm. In this paper, we analyze a system of two reacting densities, one of which is chemotactic on another. Since the speed of any biolog…

Geometry of Growing-Dividing Autocatalytic Dynamical Systems
Parth Pratim Pandey, Sanjay Jain
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.05675 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.0…

Geometry of Growing-Dividing Autocatalytic Dynamical Systems
We formalize the structure of a class of mathematical models of growing-dividing autocatalytic systems demonstrating that self-reproduction emerges only if the system's 'growth dynamics' and 'division strategy' are mutually compatible. Using various models in this class (the linear Hinshelwood cycle and nonlinear coarse-grained models of protocells and bacteria), we show that depending on the chosen division mechanism, the same chemical system can exhibit either (i) balanced exponential growth,…

🍓 How TRIC Robotics is reducing pesticide use on strawberries using UV light
https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/23/how-tric-robotics-is-reducing-pesticide-use-on-strawberries-using-uv-light/

How TRIC Robotics is reducing pesticide use on strawberries using UV light | TechCrunch
TRIC Robotics just raised a $5.5 million seed round for its tractor-sized robots that help eliminate bacteria and pests on strawberry plants.

Yeast growth is controlled by the proportional scaling of mRNA and ribosome concentrations
Xin Gao, Michael Lanz, Rosslyn Grosely, Jonas Cremer, Joseph Puglisi, Jan M. Skotheim
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14997

Yeast growth is controlled by the proportional scaling of mRNA and ribosome concentrations
Despite growth being fundamental to all aspects of cell biology, we do not yet know its organizing principles in eukaryotic cells. Classic models derived from the bacteria E. coli posit that protein-synthesis rates are set by mass-action collisions between charged tRNAs produced by metabolic enzymes and mRNA-bound ribosomes. These models show that faster growth is achieved by simultaneously raising both ribosome content and peptide elongation speed. Here, we test if these models are valid for e…

Knotted DNA Configurations in Bacteriophage Capsids: A Liquid Crystal Theory Approach
Pei Liu, Zhijie Wang, Tamara Christiani, Mariel Vazquez, M. Carme Calderer, Javier Arsuaga
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.10410

Knotted DNA Configurations in Bacteriophage Capsids: A Liquid Crystal Theory Approach
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, store their micron long DNA inside an icosahedral capsid with a typical diameter of 40 nm to 100 nm. Consistent with experimental observations, such confinement conditions induce an arrangement of DNA that corresponds to a hexagonal chromonic liquid-crystalline phase, and increase the topological complexity of the genome in the form of knots. A mathematical model that implements a chromonic liquid-crystalline phase and that captures the changes in t…

Irreversibility and symmetry breaking in the creation and annihilation of defects in active living matter
Avraham Beer, Efraim Dov Neimand, Dom Corbett, Daniel J. G. Pearce, Gil Ariel, Victor Yashunsky
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.15622

Irreversibility and symmetry breaking in the creation and annihilation of defects in active living matter
Active living matter continuously creates and annihilates topological defects in a process that remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate these dynamics in two distinct active living systems, swarming bacteria and human bronchial epithelial cells. Despite their entirely different evolutionary origins, biological functions, and physical scales, both systems exhibit half-integer defects, consistent with the nematic phase. However, in contrast to active nematic theory, we find that defect cr…

🌱 Plant cell wall mechanics informs how to grow sustainable architectural forms
#cornell

Plant cell wall mechanics informs how to grow sustainable architectural forms
Clothing that adapts to one's needs and senses the external habitat. A lunar lava tunnel that uses bacteria, plants and fungi to create sustainable human habitats within otherwise unlivable places. Buildings grown from living things.

Global solvability for doubly degenerate nutrient taxis system with a wide range of bacterial responses in physical dimension
Bao-Ngoc Tran, Juan Yang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.03268

Global solvability for doubly degenerate nutrient taxis system with a wide range of bacterial responses in physical dimension
Motivated by the study of bacteria's response to environmental conditions, we consider the doubly degenerate nutrient taxis system \begin{align*} \begin{cases} u_t=\nabla\cdot(uv\nabla u)-χ\nabla\cdot(u^αv\nabla v)+\ell uv,\\ v_t=Δv-uv, \end{cases} \end{align*} subjected to no-flux boundary conditions and smooth initial data, where $α\in\mathbb{R}$ is the bacterial response parameter. Global solvability of weak solutions to this taxis system is highly challenging due to not only the doubly …

Odd elasticity in disordered chiral active materials
Cheng-Tai Lee, Tom Lubensky, Tomer Markovich
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04468 https://arxiv.org/pdf/25…

Odd elasticity in disordered chiral active materials
Chiral active materials are abundant in nature, including the cytoskeleton with attached motor proteins, rotary clusters of bacteria flagella, and self-spinning starfish embryos. These materials break both time reversal and mirror-image (parity) symmetries due to injection of torques at the microscale. Recently, it was found that chiral active materials may show a new type of elastic response termed `odd' elasticity. Currently, odd elasticity is understood microscopically only in ordered struct…

Modeling Cholera Dynamics Under Food Insecurity and Environmental Contamination: A Multi-Patch Approach
Jean-Marc Mandeng
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05731 https://

Modeling Cholera Dynamics Under Food Insecurity and Environmental Contamination: A Multi-Patch Approach
We propose a multi-patch model of cholera transmission integrating environmental contamination, human mobility, and nutritional vulnerability. The population is stratified by food security status, and transmission occurs via human contact, bacteria in the environment and contaminated food. We derive the basic reproduction number $\mathcal{R}_0$ analyze the stability of the disease-free equilibria and show a forward bifurcation. Numerical simulations illustrate how food insecurity amplifies outb…