Bacteria that can cause serious heart disease in humans are being spread by rat fleas, sparking concern that the infections could become a bigger problem in humans. Research published in the December issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology suggests that brown rats, the biggest and most common rats in Europe, may now be carrying the bacteria.

Brown University physicists have completed the most detailed study of the swimming patterns of a microbe, showing for the first time how its movement is affected by drag and a phenomenon called Brownian motion. The findings appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. Our overuse of antibiotics has produced quite a few superbugs that cannot be killed by any but the most aggressive antibiotics, some of which have such severe side-effects that are nearly as bad as the microbes. But now there are reports that as much as 40% of our meat may be tainted with such a bug.

It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays and lost work time of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it.

Scientists in Switzerland are reporting that bacteria in the human mouth play a role in creating the distinctive flavors of certain foods.

Scientists in Italy have found bacteria in the root of a tropical grass whose oils have been used in the cosmetic and perfumery industries.

Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany have achieved an important advance in better understanding metabolic pathways in bacteria and their use.

When it comes to the decision to wake up and grow, bacterial spores "listen in" to find out what their neighbors are doing and then they follow the crowd, according to a new report in the October 31st issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.

University of Adelaide scientists are part of an international research team that has uncovered the first example of a bacterium causing disease in humans by targeting a molecule that is incorporated into our bodies from our diet.

Like something from a horror movie, the swarm of bacteria ripples purposefully toward their prey, devours it and moves on.

Non-human molecules absorbed by eating red meat increase risk of food poisoning in humans

NOD2 is a cytosolic pattern recognition receptor similar in structure and function to Toll like receptors (TLRs). It can recognize and respond to a component found in the cell wall of bacteria, muramyl dipeptide (MDP), and has been shown to play an important role in the innate immune response of macrophages to bacterial infections.