RachelM

While investigating some of the research I do in the lab, I came across this article by Dr. Hibbett at Clark University;
Mycorrhizae, the symbiotic associations of plant roots and fungal hyphae, are classic examples of mutualisms. In these ecologically important associations, the fungi derive photosynthetic sugars from their plant hosts, which in turn benefit from [...]

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Podcast “Bacterial Infection Defy Treatment” 4/16/2010
Look up in the sky!
Ok, so you really can’t see these superbugs but they are everywhere. On science Friday, 4/16/2010, a group of researchers and academics from all over the nation discuss the problems associated with antibiotic resistant. Antibiotic resistant strains, such as MRSA, are prevalent in hospitals. Other strains [...]

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Alizon et al. in their review “Virulence evolution and the trade-off hypothesis: history, current state of affairs and the future” investigate the problems associated with the trade-off hypothesis in measuring and quanitfying factors such as virulence (and various definitions). Below is a outline of the history of virulence.
History of virulence
Pasteur and Koch (1881) looked into [...]

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If you’re going to cheat, you have to do it right. Cheating is a problem for any social system, Velicer explains in his article “Developmental cheating in the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus.” Cheating isn’t something new to just bacteria. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, for example, assist trees in nutrient uptake but often “cheaters” or saprotrophic [...]

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http://myxo.css.msu.edu/~dule/pdf/Misevic2009.pdf
Researchers in New Zealand investigate the evolution of sex based on different fitness habitats.  The relationship between genotype and fitness is known as the fitness landscape. 
These researchers investigated three types of fitness landscapes, smooth random, and NK (rugged landscape).  Using computer simulations, they found that the evolution of sex is different for different landscapes.  They [...]

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http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008748
Researchers studying tripartite mutualism in ant species at the University of Wisconsin found in vitro antagonistic reactions between the actinobacteria and cultivar fungus while in vivo reactions were less understood. Fungus was paired with a specific strain of the bacteria and interactions were measured through biomass inhibition/accumulation. Although in vivo results yielded less conclusive data, [...]

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Previously, I had defined a species in terms of the ability to reproduce. However, the eukaryotic definition will not hold true for prokaryotes and researchers are left with interpreting the jargon left after millions upon millions of years of evolution through mutations and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Hanage, et al. tested several isolates of [...]

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Researchers Whitaker, Grogan, and Taylor tested the Sulfolobus species, an extremophile bacteria growing in hot springs.  Hot springs located around the world included Mutnovsky, Uzon Caldera, Geyser Valley, Brokeoff Caldera, Devil’s Kitchen, Norris Geyser Basin, and Geyser Creek.  Segments from the bacteria were sequenced at nine loci and AMOVA was used to group the strains [...]

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Hi everyone,
This is my New Post.  I’m Rachel.  Looking forward to a great last semester.
More about me per request!
I am a super senior, therefore I save old ladies from crossing the street at the wrong time, I pull cats out of trees,  breath fire, and can unscramble an egg.  The merits of being a super [...]

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