Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Gene circuits that exploit the mutual interaction between nutrient diffusion, bacterial growth and gene regulation enable the control of microbial colony structure in complex environments.
Structures of the FimA pilin from Porphyromonasgingivalis in monomeric and polymerized states reveal the protease-mediated strand-exchange assembly mechanism of type V pili, which is a key virulence factor of this periodontal pathogen.
Streptomyces bacteria make volatile compounds such as geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol that attract springtails to bacterial colonies. The soil arthropods feed on the bacteria and help to disseminate spores via faecal pellets and through adherence to their surface.
The identification of the KinB–AlgB two-component system, known to modulate alginate biosynthesis, together with downstream proteins that repress the Type I-F CRISPR–Cas system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, elucidates how bacteria control the expression of nucleolytic host defence systems to minimize the potential risks of self-targeting.
The crystal structure of the RodA–PBP2 complex from Thermus thermophilus elucidates how binding between these two proteins regulates their abilities to polymerize and crosslink peptidoglycan during bacterial cell wall synthesis.
Here, Rickettsia parkeri is shown to be sensitive to type I interferons (IFN-I) and IFN-γ and to benefit from inflammasome-mediated antagonism of IFN-I, highlighting similarities between the immune responses against this obligate cytosolic bacterial pathogen and those that target viral pathogens.
A combination of cellular, molecular and structural biology approaches explains how the translating ribosome and the nascent peptide SpeFL interact to form a binding pocket that serves as an ornithine sensor to regulate polyamine biosynthesis in pathogenic bacteria.
The discovery of the Factor that terminates transcription in Archaea (FttA) as a conserved archaeal protein that is able to disrupt transcription elongation complexes elucidates the mechanisms of transcription termination in these organisms.
Alternative σ factors regulate the activity of RNA polymerases under specific conditions and are regulated through various mechanisms, most of which depend on anti-σ factors to regulate their on/off status. This study reports a new mode of σ factor regulation that does not require an anti-σ factor, but instead σ factor phosphorylation in response to the presence of an antibiotic.
The autophagy proteins Beclin 1 and FIP200, but not other essential autophagy components, such as ATG5, ATG16L1 or ATG7, regulate quiescence of tissue-resident macrophages, thereby modulating immune activation and resistance to Listeria monocytogenes infection.
In an interesting demonstration of how bacterial subcellular organization influences physiology, polar accumulation of PopZ protein in a membraneless microdomain is found to drive asymmetric phosphorylation of CtrA-P, which creates a gradient that is responsible for asymmetric cell division in Caulobacter.
The use of an in vitro system in which key proteins involved in cell division are attached to supported lipid bilayers reveals that membrane-bound cytosolic peptides of FtsN and FtsQ co-migrate with treadmilling FtsZ–FtsA filaments via a diffusion-and-capture mechanism, elucidating how FtsZ dynamics regulate the distribution of peptidoglycan synthases.
This study tracks emergent ciprofloxacin-resistant Shigella sonnei in Vietnam, showing displacement of sensitive strains by others that acquired beta-lactam-antibiotic-resistance plasmids from commensal E. coli in infected individuals.
Bacterial cell wall amidases typically hydrolyse crosslinked peptidoglycan between daughter cells so they can separate. An amidase that cleaves uncrosslinked peptidoglycan and its regulator are identified here and shown to regulate cell growth, rather than separation. This enzyme regulates the density of peptidoglycan assembly sites, ensuring coordination between cell expansion and cell division.
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.
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.
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.