Biology Department
Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- Indiana University biologists are showing how freeloading, mutant derivatives of these plasmids benefit while the virulent, disease-causing plasmids do the heavy-lifting of initiating infection in plant hosts. The research confirms that the ability of bacteria to cause disease comes at a significant cost that is only counterbalanced by the benefits they experience from infected host organisms.
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An international team of microbiologists led by Indiana University researchers has identified a new bacterial growth process -- one that occurs at a single end or pole of the cell instead of uniform, dispersed growth along the long axis of the cell -- that could have implications in the development of new antibacterial strategies.
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Indiana University Bloomington developmental and evolutionary biologist Armin Moczek begins a new year with a new National Science Foundation grant of $617,000 to fund continued investigations into the origin and evolution of novel traits. For Moczek, those novel traits are combat tools: the horns male dung beetles use to battle and defeat male competitors with the hope of winning a female sexual partner.
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New international research led by Indiana University shows that as populations and species diversify, the exact shape and fit of genitalia steals the show over size.
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science has awarded the distinction of Fellow to a record 10 Indiana University faculty members this year. Founded in 1848, AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.
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The ranges of species will have to change dramatically as a result of climate change between now and 2100 because the climate will change more than 100 times faster than the rate at which species can adapt, according to a newly published study by Indiana University researchers. The study focuses on North American rattlesnakes.
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