[Emperor, comet and catastrophy - the <> plague and the end of antiquity]

Plague is a highly virulent zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic coccobacillus. This pathogen primarily circulates among rodent populations and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected fleas. Additional transmission routes include direct contact with infected animal tissue or inhalation of respiratory droplets from individuals with pneumonic plague. These multiple transmission pathways highlight the bacterium’s potential for rapid...

Infectious diseases appear in populations through various transmission patterns, influenced by pathogen characteristics, population immunity, environmental conditions, and social behavior. Understanding these patterns is essential for effective public health surveillance and intervention. These categories—sporadic, outbreak, epidemic, pandemic, and endemic—help frame the nature and scope of disease events.Sporadic diseases occur irregularly and infrequently, without a predictable temporal or...

There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...

Archaea, one of the three domains of life, exhibit remarkable diversity and adaptability, thriving in both extreme and moderate environments. Historically, most identified archaea have been classified into two major phyla: Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota. However, recent molecular studies have expanded this classification to include three additional phyla: Thaumarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, and Korarchaeota, each exhibiting unique characteristics and ecological roles.Thaumarchaeota: Mesophiles...

The stepwise destruction of specific proteins is necessary for the progression and completion of the cell cycle. Such proteins are ubiquitinated by ubiquitin ligases and then subsequently destroyed by the proteasome. The SCF (Skp1/Cullin/F-box) and the anaphase-promoting complex (APC) are two important ubiquitin ligases involved in cell cycle progression. While SCF is active throughout the cell cycle, APC gets activated during metaphase to anaphase transition. Cdc20 or Cdh1 binds to APC and...

The stepwise destruction of specific proteins is necessary for the progression and completion of the cell cycle. Such proteins are ubiquitinated by ubiquitin ligases and then subsequently destroyed by the proteasome. The SCF (Skp1/Cullin/F-box) and the anaphase-promoting complex (APC) are two important ubiquitin ligases involved in cell cycle progression. While SCF is active throughout the cell cycle, APC gets activated during metaphase to anaphase transition. Cdc20 or Cdh1 binds to APC and...