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Quantitative stable isotope probing and gene expression analyses in anoxic Namibian shelf sediments reveal that representatives of the Asgard candidate phylum Candidatus Lokiarchaeota are capable of homoacetogenesis, a metabolic strategy of high energetic efficiency that may explain how these archaea thrive in the energy-limited seafloor subsurface environment.
Galacturonic acid produced by Bacteroides thetaiotamicron is shown to be sensed by enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium to initiate an infection program that includes its use as a carbon source and regulation of the type III secretion system, leading to colitis and inflammation.
High-throughput chromosomal conformation capture identified changes in the gut microbiome over 10 years, including substantial exchange of accessory elements and adaptive evolution in core genomes.
The lipopolysaccharide of the intracellular pathogen Shigella, in particular its O antigen, interacts with caspases and blocks their activation to prevent apoptosis.
Shotgun metagenomic sequencing (using the MinION platform) of mock microbial communities and faecal samples from healthy and ill preterm infants can be used to identify pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance gene profiles in real time, indicating the potential for translation into clinical settings.
Herpesviruses are shown to specifically block innate antiviral responses by inducing the aggregation of key signalling molecules nuclear factor κ-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) essential modulator (NEMO) and receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) and their degradation by selective autophagy, thereby blocking the activation of NF-κB and the induction of necroptosis, respectively.
The comparison of the ability of native and engineered gene clusters transferred into bacteria that live on or inside cereal roots to regulate nitrogenase activity reveals different strategies to control nitrogen fixation in rhizobia and paves the way to engineer a bacterium able to deliver high nitrogen fluxes to crops.
The structure of the FlaG–FlaF complexes from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, combined with mutational and biochemical studies, suggests that these proteins form a heterotetrameric complex in which FlaF regulates the filamentation of FlaG and anchoring of the archaellum to the S-layer, thereby modulating motility.
Reactive oxygen species produced by macrophages following infection with Staphylococcus aureus attack bacterial iron–sulfur cluster-containing proteins, thereby leading to alterations in bacterial metabolism that increase their tolerance to antibiotics.
Metagenomic sequencing of near-surface marine viral communities sampled monthly over 5 years revealed that overall communities were stable over time, although minor population variants were more variable, which is consistent with Red Queen-like dynamics.
This study reports that flavivirus transmission by mosquitoes to mice is increased if mosquitoes feed subsequently on non-infectious blood, possibly because feeding causes microperforations in the gut. Modelling shows this could explain how A. aegypti can sustain an explosive epidemic such as Zika virus despite its perceived poor vector competence.
This paper identifies a Serratia jumbo phage that, on infection, leads to the formation of a nucleus-like structure that protects phage DNA from CRISPR–Cas defence systems. However, the phage is still susceptible to CRISPR–Cas RNA targeting in the cytoplasm.
Electron micrographs show that mouse and rat segmented filamentous bacterium (SFB) unicellular intracellular offspring (IO) are flagellated and that flagellation occurs before IO release from SFB filaments.
The hierarchical consumption of carbon substrates by Escherichia coli is regulated by carbon-uptake flux rather than by the identity of the substrates, in a process controlled by cAMP–Crp signalling and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate.
The addition of a small net barrier above a standard bednet targets malaria vectors and—as these barriers are further distanced from sleepers—paves the way for the use of a wider range of insecticides to curtail malaria transmission.
This study reports a microscopy-based screen to find microRNAs (miRNAs) that control infection by Salmonella and Shigella, showing they have different requirements. Two miRNAs decrease Shigella actin motility through N-WASP and one miRNA inhibits Salmonella by targeting TGS2, a regulator of phagolysosomal trafficking.
This work reports an analysis of primary and secondary immune responses in ten women infected with ZIKV for 224 days following an acute symptomatic Zika virus infection. CD4+ T-cell responses broadly targeted the whole Zika genome, whereas CD8+ T cells were strongly biased towards non-structural proteins.
The gut microbiota enhances murine norovirus infection in distal regions of the gut, but inhibits viral infection in the proximal small intestine via altered bile acid metabolism and consequent type III interferon production.
In this work, Fang et al. analyse the epigenetic landscape of Clostridioides difficile and identify a DNA methyltransferase present across C. difficile strains that is required for optimal sporulation and in vivo colonization and disease.