The search for nectar costs insects a lot of energy, so they have to be as efficient as possible. Colourful patterns on the petals can help with that.
A team of researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen has gained new insights into the maturation of SARS-CoV-specific antibodies after multiple vaccinations with the mRNA vaccine Comirnaty. They have now published their work in the journal Science Immunology.
What genetic changes are responsible for the evolution of phenotypic traits? This question is not always easy to answer. A newly developed method now makes the search much easier.
When a fruit fly starts walking or flying, its insulin-producing cells are immediately inhibited. This could be one explanation for why exercise promotes health.
Magnetic bacteria can align their movement with the Earth's magnetic field thanks to chains of magnetic nanoparticles inside their cells. The blueprints for making and linking these magnetosomes are stored in the bacteria's genes. An international research team led by Professors Dr. Dirk Schüler and Dr. René Uebe at the University of Bayreuth has now discovered a cluster of such genes in non-magnetic bacteria for the first time. These genes are inactive but functional and probably entered the bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. The research findings were presented in the ISME Journal.
A newly developed rapid test needs only a few seconds to reliably detect pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. It is based on specially designed magnetic nanoparticles.
At present, microbial fuel cells are mainly used in research laboratories to generate electricity. In order for industrial applications to be considered in the future, the fuel cells must be further developed so that they can produce consistently higher amounts of electricity than is currently the case. In a recent study published in the journal "Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts", a research team from the University of Bayreuth has investigated factors playing a role in this. The choice of electrode material was shown to be particularly important for increasing stability and performance.
How do the gut and the brain interact, and can this even trigger disease? There is growing consensus within the research community that the nervous and digestive systems interact with each other. How exactly, however, is still largely unknown. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is now funding a new clinical research unit at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erangen-Nürnberg (FAU) that will investigate the interaction between the digestive and nervous systems with reference to inflammatory and degenerative diseases, the first collaborative research group in Germany to explore the “gut-brain axis”.
The distribution of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, the potential of human exposure and particle uptake, and the absorption of these particles into tissues are topics that are being intensively researched worldwide. An international research group of the EU project "PlasticsFatE" under the leadership of Prof. Dr Christian Laforsch at the University of Bayreuth has evaluated international research literature on these issues. The results presented in the journal "NanoImpact" show: Concerning the risks for humans, the evidence is less certain than the broad spectrum of publications might suggest.
In search of new biomarkers for nutrition and health studies, a research team from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB) has identified and structurally characterized three metabolites that could be considered as specific markers for individual coffee consumption. These are degradation products of a group of substances that are formed in large quantities during coffee roasting but are otherwise rarely found in other foods. This and the fact that the potential biomarkers can be detected in very small amounts of urine make them interesting for future human studies.
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