News by Subject Biology

It is well established that weakened immune systems in old age affect people's health and fitness, but a study suggests that it is also an issue for wild animals.

A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has completed the first study of the effects of a simultaneous infection with blood flukes (schistosomes) and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori -- a fairly common occurrence in some parts of the world. They identified a complex interaction which resulted -- among other effects -- in a weakening of the adverse impact of the pathogens acting individually.

Large amounts of fungicides, used in agriculture, leak into nearby surface waters. The effects of it on aquatic organisms are poorly understood and not specifically addressed in the EU regulatory frameworks with respect to the protection of surface waters. Scientists at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) have found that pollution by fungicides can have unforeseen but far-reaching consequences for the functioning of aquatic systems -- like indirect effects on the development of algal blooms.

The frigid waters of the Antarctic may yield a treatment for a deadly disease that affects populations in some of the hottest places on earth. Current medications for that scourge -- malaria -- are becoming less effective as drug resistance spreads. But researchers report in ACS' Journal of Natural Products that a peptide they isolated from an Antarctic sponge shows promise as a lead for new therapies.

This research revealed that mycoparasites can live up to 21-days on mildew-free host plant surfaces, where they can attack powdery mildew structures as soon as they appear. Also of note, this research showed that these mycoparasites cannot spread in sterile soil or in decomposing leaves on the ground, showing that concerns about the potentially negative environmental impact of the BCAs are largely unsubstantiated.

Researchers at the Universities of Abuja and Nigeria, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, have detected a potentially human-infective microbe in pet dogs in Nigeria.