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An update to the ‘tree of life’ has revealed a dominance of bacterial diversity in many ecosystems and extensive evolution in some branches of the tree. It also highlights how few organisms we have been able to cultivate for further investigation.
The fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum is shown to use a functional homologue of the plant regulatory peptide RALF (rapid alkalinization factor) to induce alkalinization and cause disease in plants.
A GWAS method that captures lineage-level associations even when locus-specific associations cannot be fine-mapped, detects genes and genetic variants underlying resistance to antimicrobials in M. tuberculosis, S. aureus, E. coli and K. pneumoniae.
Global phylogenetic analyses of Shigella dysenteriae isolates uncover the transcontinental transmission events and evolution of antibiotic resistance behind the major dysentery epidemics in the modern era.
Influenza A virus polymerase has a β-hairpin in the thumb subdomain, which is shown to be essential for the initiation of viral replication, but auxiliary for other replicative steps and viral transcription.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have traditionally been considered an ancient asexual lineage. Comparative genomic analyses of Rhizophagus irregularis provides evidence of sexual reproduction in these fungi.
A host SHP1 phosphatase dephosphorylates and antagonizes the function of the Helicobacter pylori virulence factor CagA. EBV co-infection dampens SHP1 expression, leading to CagA hypervirulence.
Interactions amongst Bacillus subtilis cells in a defined spatial environment are sufficient to enable the formation of self-organized patches that allow survival at cell densities otherwise too low to sustain growth.
Evolution of high levels of multidrug tolerance in E. coli occurs rapidly via single point mutations and adapts to drug treatment frequency. Conversely reversion in the absence of antibiotic treatment is slow and only partially effective.
Antibiotic therapy has varying effects on the species richness of the preterm infant gut microbiota, but can lead to a dominance of multi-drug resistant species and an enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes.
Light sensing in Aspergillus nidulans is shown to depend on the SakA (HogA) pathway, known to be crucial for osmosensing and now revealed as a hub for environmental signal integration in fungi.
Rapid variation in the phytoplankton and bacterioplankton communities of a spring bloom provides new insights into the biological and physical parameters affecting plankton succession.
Inhibition of BCL-XL eliminates Legionella infection, suggesting that host-directed BH3-mimetic therapy may be effective against intracellular pathogens that inhibit host cell protein synthesis.
Renal infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) leads to both the induction of apoptosis through upregulation of Smad7 and FGF2 and to renal failure.
Genomic reconstruction from hot spring sediment metagenomes show that 'Hadesarchaea' have streamlined yet metabolically versatile genomes, with genes involved in CO and H2 oxidation, with potential coupling to nitrite reduction to ammonia.
Whole genome sequencing of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolates from the UK and Ireland reveal a population with three predominant lineages, two of which have acquired and lost resistance multiple times.
The microenvironment of injured intestinal mucosa induces the rapid emergence of microbiota constituents that contribute to repair of the mucosal wounds.
Mutation of a mismatch repair gene accelerated the genomic mutation rate of Salmonella Enteritidis infecting an immunocompromized individual, leading to levels of evolution that parallel those found in successful host-restricted bacterial pathogens.
Streptococcus pyogenes (also known as group A Streptococcus or GAS) streptolysin S (SLS)-mediated red blood cell lysis occurs through disruption of the function of major erythrocyte anion exchange protein, band 3, leading to Cl- ion influx.
Combining a map of human and animal melioidosis cases and the presence of environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei in a formal modelling framework to estimate the global burden of the disease reveals that it is severely under-reported.