Blow up a long balloon and two things happen: it gets longer and it gets wider. Now imagine a living cell that inflates itself under enormous pressure and yet only grows longer, never adding width.

This news release is available in French. Montréal, July 13, 2015 - It's no coincidence that the earthworm's slender shape makes it perfect for weaving through narrow tunnels. Evolution moulds the ...

Scientists have found that a predatory bacterium, capable of invading and consuming harmful bugs such as E.coli and Salmonella, can sculpt its own shape to fit inside its prey. Scientists have shown ...

Evolution has an agenda. Organisms receive cues from the environment and adjust to better survive and thrive based on that input. When it comes to pathogenic bacteria that agenda is far from benign — ...

Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram positive, soil-dwelling bacterium. Like all Bacillus species, it is rod-shaped and produces spores. Aside from being a close relative to Bacillus anthracis (the one ...

Bacteria come in a surprising variety of shapes. In addition to rod-shaped representatives such as the widely known model bacterium E. coli, there are numerous curved and even spiral-shaped bacteria.

The bacteria that cause the life-threatening disease cholera may initiate infection by coordinating a wave of mass shapeshifting that allows them to more effectively penetrate the intestines of their ...

Scientists have found that a predatory bacterium, capable of invading and consuming harmful bugs such as E.coli and Salmonella, can sculpt its own shape to fit inside its prey. In a new paper, ...