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The oral bacterium Veillonella parvula utilizes inflammation-associated nitrate to facilitate colonization of the intestinal tract, which is observed in a mouse model of colitis and patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
Plant-beneficial pseudomonads use a type IVB secretion system to kill bacterial competitors and invade biofilms, playing a major role in root-associated lifestyle.
Here the authors use 71 E. coli strains to generate a fosmid library that is experimentally tested for anti-phage activity and find dozens of new candidate defence systems, many of which are carried on prophage or mobile genetic elements.
Bacterial divisome protein FtsA, which is an actin homologue, forms double filaments following binding to FtsN, and like MreB, an actin homologue in the elongasome, the curvature-sensing double filaments guide peptidoglycan insertion for cell division.
Pseudomonas putida uses a type IVB secretion system to kill a broad range of Gram-negative bacteria, invade biofilms and prevent phytopathogen Ralstonia solanacearum infection in tomato plants.
Longitudinal shotgun metagenomics reveal changes in the gut microbial ecology upon carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae colonization and decolonization of adult subjects.
In apicomplexan parasites, the conoid is a dynamic organelle of enigmatic function. This study establishes that the conoid movement is essential to control the flux of F-actin needed for myosin-dependent motility that powers invasion and egress.
Pan-genome analyses of clinical pneumococcal strains identify categories of essential genes and show that gene essentiality depends on strain genetic background.
In situ cryo-ET imaging and live-cell fluorescence microscopy reveal that septal peptidoglycan architecture and divisome activity modulate bacterial morphogenesis in Escherichia coli.
Rational design of live-attenuated RNA viruses with potential as vaccines is enabled by identification of sequence rules for zinc finger antiviral protein.
Tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon that might be liberated as temperatures increase. A 2-year experiment of tropical forest soil warming reveals that microbial diversity is reduced, but enzyme activity is increased, resulting in CO2 emissions threefold greater than modelling predicts.
A newly discovered benzoxaborole prodrug AN15368 cures Trypanosoma cruzi infection (the cause of Chagas disease) in mice and in naturally infected non-human primates.
Longitudinal sampling, modelling and genomic analyses of stool samples from Malawian adults reveal how antimicrobial exposure and hospitalization promote ESBL-Enterobacterales colonization.
Multidimensional phenotyping links sequencing data and bacterial phenotypic diversity to uncover crucial virulence pathways in the emerging pathogen Mycobacterium abscessus.
This work used DNA and RNA sequencing to investigate how wildfire burn severity affects forest soil microbiomes. The results revealed the mechanisms that allow specific bacteria, fungi and viruses to colonize and thrive in burned soils. These changes can influence nutrient cycling and carbon storage in soil.
Wildfires have unknown impacts on soil microbes and biogeochemistry. Using metagenomics across forest burn gradients, here the authors show severity-dependent losses in microbiome diversity and functional shifts that underpin post-fire survival.