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CRISPR immunity begins with the acquisition of sequences from invading nucleic acids through spacer integration into a CRISPR locus. Off-target integration of spacers into other parts of the genome is now implicated as a spontaneous source of new CRISPR loci.
Effective treatment and eradication of tuberculosis requires highly sensitive and specific, easy-to-use detection methods. New advances in molecular tools and technology are driving improved tuberculosis diagnostics, including ways to rapidly identify highly drug-resistant infections.
An alternative nitrogenase enzyme that only utilizes iron as its cofactor is shown to reduce carbon dioxide while actively fixing dinitrogen, so that it simultaneously produces ammonium, hydrogen and methane.
Geographic mapping of pathogen emergence risk, as recently done for viral haemorrhagic fever in Africa, provides an important tool for targeting interventions. More comprehensive preparedness and prediction systems that increase surveillance and forecast infectious disease outbreak growth and spread in real time are also needed.
Detailed biochemical, structural and growth studies reveal how Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron coordinates a complex enzymatic response to deconstruct pectins — complex dietary components that comprise a tremendous diversity of monosaccharide units and glycosidic linkage combinations.
APOBEC3G is an antiviral protein that has long been known to inhibit retrovirus replication by hypermutating viral DNA. An additional mechanism is now identified, in which APOBEC3G binds to the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, inhibiting viral DNA synthesis.
In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation of the role metabolism plays in controlling nearly all aspects of cellular function. Three recent articles explore how host metabolic cues influence different aspects of Plasmodium biology during infection, including parasite growth and sexual differentiation.
Functional and structural studies highlight the remarkable evolution and features of the typhoid toxin from Salmonella Typhi. This reveals that attachment of the toxin to specific N-glycan chains accounts for its tropism for selected human tissues.
