Here, the authors sought to use Cladophora macroalgae as a possible antibiotic to address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria. However, when they observed algae extracts to be greatly contaminated with gram-negative bacteria, they adapted to explore the ability to use ultraviolet light as a bactericide. They found that treatment with ultraviolet light had a significant effect.

Here, seeking to understand a possible cause of the declining popluations of Brood X cicadas in Ohio and Indiana, the authors investigated the presence of Wolbachia, an inherited bacterial symbiont that lives in the reproductive cells of approximately 60% of insect species in these cicadas. Following their screening of one-hundred 17-year periodical cicadas, they only identified the presence of Wolbachia infection in less than 2%, suggesting that while Wolbachia can infect cicadas it appears uncommon in the Brood X cicadas they surveyed.

In this study, the authors test new antimicrobials by measuring the ability of extracts from Australian-native Myrtaceae species to induce death of two bacteria S. aureus and P. aeruginosa.

In this study, the authors analyze gene expression datasets to determine if there is a core set of genes dysregulated during nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Pillai et al. look at whether exposure to Schistosoma mansoni, a parasitic blood fluke, has any relation to peanut allergies. They found that cockroaches exposed to an antigen found in S. mansoni eggs exhibited an allergic reaction to peanuts.

The authors compared the short-term effects of processed versus unprocessed food on spatial learning and survival in zebrafish, given the large public concern regarding processed foods. By randomly assigning zebrafish to a diet of brine shrimp flakes (processed) or live brine shrimp (unprocessed), the authors show while there is no immediate effect on a fish's decision process between the two diets, there are significant correlations between improved learning and stress response with the unprocessed diet.

This study is centered around developing biofortification methods: the authors test whether the amount of calcium available to growing crops translates into more calcium present in the crops.

Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare subtype of melanoma but the most frequent primary cancer of the eye in adults. The goal of this study was to research the genetic causes of UM through a comprehensive frequency analysis of base-pair mismatches in patient genomes. Results showed a total of 130 genetic mutations, including seven recurrent mutations, with most mutations occurring in chromosomes 3 and X. Recurrent mutations varied from 8.7% to 17.39% occurrence in the UM patient sample, with all mutations identified as missense. These findings suggest that UM is a recessive heterogeneous disease with selective homozygous mutations. Notably, this study has potential wider significance because the seven genes targeted by recurrent mutations are also involved in other cancers.

Scientist are investigating the use of methane-consuming bacteria to aid the growing problem of rising greenhouse gas emissions. While previous studies claim that low-frequency electromagnetic fields can accelerate the growth rate of these bacteria, Chu et al. demonstrate that this fundamental ideology is not on the same wavelength with their data.

Overwatering and underwatering grass are widespread issues with environmental and financial consequences. This study developed an accessible method to assess grass water use efficiency (WUE) combining smartphone imaging with open access color unmixing analysis. The method can be applied in automated irrigation systems or apps, providing grass WUE assessment for regular consumer use.