Ireland Science News API

{
    "totalArticles": 92046,
    "articles": [
        {
            "id": "43a3070e75a9f846a7dfc7eb572b836d",
            "title": "Genome-reduced Aridivitia evolved predation to thrive in Earth’s oligotrophic depths",
            "description": "Deep soils represent one of Earth’s largest yet most enigmatic microbial habitats, where survival strategies under extreme oligotrophy remain poorly understood. Here, we report the Aridivitia group, a globally distributed bacterial lineage enriched in oligotrophic soils and thriving down to 22 m depth across sites in the United States and China. Despite its genome reduction (average size ~2.9 Mb), Aridivitia exhibits high metabolic flexibility in utilizing diverse carbon and energy sources. Cellular, genomic, and metatranscriptomic evidence, including small cell and genome sizes, host-associated metabolism, and the active expression of attachment- and attack-associated surface structures such as Tad pili and pore-forming toxins, indicate a predatory lifestyle in Aridivitia. Ancestral genome reconstruction reveals that Aridivitia originated as free-living mixotrophs, but subsequently lost the ability to fix carbon as they evolved a predatory lifestyle. Collectively, Aridivitia exemplifies a unique evolutionary strategy that reconciles genome reduction with functional versatility, expanding our understanding of microbial adaptation and evolution at the energetic limits of life. This study reveals that the uncultivated bacterial group Aridivitia thrives in oligotrophic deep soils, with reduced genomes, metabolic flexibility, and an evolutionary transition from free-living mixotrophy to predation.",
            "content": "We are deeply grateful to Michael Thompson of Iowa State University for site selection, Matthew Streeter, Phillip Kerr, Brennan Slater, and Keith Schilling (Iowa Geological Survey) for their essential technical and logistical support during deep soil... [1563 chars]",
            "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78342-x?error=cookies_not_supported&code=431b6fc6-95ab-4b0d-abbf-c30cf93272e8",
            "image": "https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/favicon-48x48-b52890008c.png",
            "publishedAt": "2026-10-14T19:08:02Z",
            "lang": "en",
            "source": {
                "id": "7abf0df285fbe93cdccffcc7c4088737",
                "name": "Nature",
                "url": "https://www.nature.com"
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "4635b4cbbadd27c96255baf6c5573380",
            "title": "Plant cell receptor balances signals from food and foe",
            "description": "Salk scientists find a receptor called SRF3 that manages cellular iron levels while simultaneously regulating the plant’s immune response. Discovery reveals previously unknown mechanism that allows plants both to absorb this essential nutrient and defend against microbes, informing future crop resilience efforts. Study also provides insights into cellular mechanisms that could be relevant in mammalian cells and key signaling proteins in cancer and beyond.",
            "content": "LA JOLLA (October 14, 2026)—Energy production in our cells, oxygen traveling in our blood, and immune cells fighting infection all depend on iron, an essential mineral that enters the food chain when plants absorb it from soil. But iron is often scar... [6170 chars]",
            "url": "https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1147627",
            "image": "https://mediasvc.eurekalert.org/Api/v1/Multimedia/c4849590-23be-437f-ac5c-344055e3904a/Rendition/thumbnail/Content/Public",
            "publishedAt": "2026-10-14T18:56:41Z",
            "lang": "en",
            "source": {
                "id": "6a95657332d8b1bd75fe6a91118746ff",
                "name": "EurekAlert!",
                "url": "https://www.eurekalert.org"
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "274b11b8e77a54a26fb06a289f47c027",
            "title": "Untargeted metabolomics identifies novel metabolites and pathways in Finnish men with heart failure",
            "description": "Early predictors of heart failure (HF) remain poorly defined. We measured plasma metabolites in a population-based Finnish cohort to identify metabolites that independently predict incident HF. We also performed an exploratory analysis of whether selected metabolites improved discrimination beyond traditional clinical and laboratory factors. Untargeted LC–MS/MS quantified 1009 known metabolites in 10,115 men from the METSIM study. A total of 663 participants developed HF during 14.2-year follow-up. We applied Cox regression analysis to associate the clinical factors and metabolites alone and combined with the risk of HF. Genetic variants that were associated with metabolites and increased the risk of HF were identified. Forty-five metabolites (33 were novel) increased significantly the risk of HF, including markers of catecholamine turnover, polyamine catabolites, very-long-chain acyl-carnitines, and bile-acid sulfates. ROC analysis showed that adding 12 metabolites to the clinical model increased significantly the AUC from 0.775 to 0.795. The metabolites identified converged to the adrenergic/mitochondrial redox stress, nitrogen-polyamine flux, and membrane-lipid/bile-acid remodeling pathways. Ten metabolite-quantitative-trait loci included signaling, nitrogen handling, lipid remodeling, and nucleotide detoxification pathways to specific genes. We also showed that these metabolites add prognostic value to conventional risk factors and highlight pathways of early myocardial injury in patients with HF.",
            "content": "Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original... [625 chars]",
            "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-75732-5?error=cookies_not_supported&code=c2aac271-a3f4-442c-9786-58fa11c01312",
            "image": "https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/favicon-48x48-b52890008c.png",
            "publishedAt": "2026-10-14T18:29:41Z",
            "lang": "en",
            "source": {
                "id": "7abf0df285fbe93cdccffcc7c4088737",
                "name": "Nature",
                "url": "https://www.nature.com"
            }
        }
    ]
}