Mutation dynamics in bacterial populations underpin the generation of genetic diversity that drives adaptation, speciation and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Spontaneous base substitutions ...

A new study published in PLOS Genetics has identified an extreme mutational hotspot within the genome of Pseudomonas fluorescens, providing unprecedented insight into the relationship between gene ...

Queensland researchers have discovered that a mutation allows some E. coli bacteria to cause severe disease in people while other bacteria are harmless, a finding that could help to combat antibiotic ...

Deciphering the mechanisms and dynamics of bacterial evolution within a host is becoming increasingly important for understanding and thus mitigating infectious disease. The emergence of major human ...

Do bacteria mutate randomly, or do they mutate for a purpose? Researchers have been puzzling over this conundrum for over a century. In 1943, microbiologist Salvador Luria and physicist turned ...

For about 40% of people diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC), the tumor carries a mutation in a gene called KRAS. Many of those mutations have been linked to shorter survival and more aggressive ...

Researchers have discovered that a mutation in the cellulose making machinery of E. coli bacteria allows them to cause severe disease in people -- 'good' bacteria make cellulose and 'bad' bacteria can ...

Researchers have described how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus genetically adapts to humans, including mutations that allow some strains to evade the immune system and become resistant to ...

Traditional biochemical methods of studying human gene mutations are often laborious and costly. Now bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new simple approach to ...