In a groundbreaking study, researcher Kostas Konstantinidis has reshaped our understanding of microbial life, challenging the long-standing belief that bacteria do not form distinct species. For years ...

One species of bacteria seems to get many of the perks of sexual reproduction without actually having sex, a new study finds. Different strains of bacteria called Mycobacterium smegmatis swap large, ...

Sperm and egg cells, or gametes, are unusual. Egg cells are some of the largest cell types, and sperm are some of the smallest. In humans, these haploid cells come together to form diploid cells. It's ...

New research shows bacteria form distinct species and maintain cohesion through frequent DNA exchange via homologous recombination. When Kostas Konstantinidis proved that many microbes -- like plants ...

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, among others, presents the theory that egg-sperm fusion, a crucial feature of sexual reproduction in plants and animals, may have originated from an ...

Xiaoqi Feng holding a male liverwort in her lab at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). The group of Xiaoqi Feng at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) uses this ...

New research finds that sexual reproduction and multicellularity drive diversity among different species. There are huge differences in species numbers among the major branches of the tree of life.

When Kostas Konstantinidis proved that many microbes — like plants and animals — are organized into species, he upended a long-held scientific belief. Scientists widely believed that bacteria, due to ...