Mastodawn

PLOS Biology Aug 6, 2025

More than a billion tons of #chitin are produced on Earth each year. This study shows that the soil #bacterium #Streptomyces venezuelae thrives on chitin from #insect #exoskeletons, using a potent mix of chitinases and a dedicated chitobiose importer @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/45sg4S5

PLOS Biology Jun 13, 2025

Despite a century of use in #DrugDiscovery, specialized metabolism continues to amaze. Justin Nodwell explores a @PLOSBiology study that uses a novel computational approach to uncover unsuspected functions of a compound produced by #Streptomyces. Paper: https://plos.io/43UVUPB Primer: https://plos.io/4n25bOF

CellBioNews Mar 7, 2025

#Bacterial ' #jumping_genes' can target and control #chromosome ends.

#transposons #telomeres #Streptomyces #genomes

https://phys.org/news/2025-03-bacterial-genes-chromosome.html

Bacterial 'jumping genes' can target and control chromosome ends

Transposons, or "jumping genes"—DNA segments that can move from one part of the genome to another—are key to bacterial evolution and the development of antibiotic resistance.

Leibniz-Institut DSMZ Dec 9, 2024

During her work at Rutgers University microbiologist Elizabeth Bugie (1920-2001) was involved in the discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis. While her boss received the Nobel Prize for this discovery, she wasn’t mentioned. Honouring her work on the discovery and evaluation of antibiotics, DSMZ researchers named the strain Streptomyces bugieae (DSM 41528) after her.

#herstory #HonoringWomenInSTEM #WomenInScience #streptomyces #microbiology #antibiotics

Leibniz-Institut DSMZ Dec 3, 2024

Fanny Hesse (1850-1934) worked unpaid for her husband Walter Hesse in Robert Koch's laboratory. Koch was desperate to find a suitable medium for growing bacterial cultures. Fanny Hesse came up with the idea of using agar, which proved to be an ideal gelling agent. To honour her for introducing agar and revolutionising microbiology, DSMZ researchers named the strain Streptomyces hesseae (DSM 40473) after her.

#herstory #HonoringWomenInSTEM #WomenInScience #RobertKoch #streptomyces #microbiology

PLOS Biology Jul 26, 2024

How do #phages impact #Streptomyces physiology? @BuryMone &co show that induction of the #prophage 'Samy' enhances dispersal of #multicellular aggregates of S. ambofaciens #bacteria in response to stress, likely promoting lineage propagation #PLOSBiology https://plos.io/3LDRNib

Prophage induction can facilitate the in vitro dispersal of multicellular Streptomyces structures

Little is known about the impact of phages on Streptomyces physiology. In this study, induction of the prophage ’Samy’ was found to enhance the dispersal of multicellular aggregates of Streptomyces ambofaciens bacteria in response to stress, likely promoting lineage propagation.

CellBioNews Apr 18, 2024

New class of #antimicrobials discovered in #soil #bacteria.

#Streptomyces #umbrella_toxin

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-class-antimicrobials-soil-bacteria.html

New class of antimicrobials discovered in soil bacteria

Researchers have discovered toxic protein particles, shaped like umbrellas, that soil bacteria known as Streptomyces secrete to squelch competitors, especially others of their own species.

Phys.org

PLOS Biology Mar 4, 2024

How SARPs regulate #antibiotic #biosynthesis in Streptomyces. This study combines #cryoEM structures with biochemical assays to explain how the #Streptomyces coelicolor SARP AfsR activates transcription #PLOSBiology https://plos.io/3P5DWUe

Structural and functional characterization of AfsR, an SARP family transcriptional activator of antibiotic biosynthesis in Streptomyces

Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory proteins (SARPs) are widely distributed activators of antibiotic biosynthesis. This study combines cryo-EM structures with biochemical assays to explain how the Streptomyces coelicolor SARP AfsR activates transcription.