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Stepwise evolution of invasive Salmonella Typhimurium in Africa is defined using genotypic and phenotypic analyses of isolates collected over a 50-yr period.
A non-invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae strain induces a unique NF-κB signature response in epithelial cells that requires the histone demethylase KDM6B. Modulation of KDM6B can interchange the host response to non-invasive and invasive pneumococcal strains, demonstrating the biological role of KDM6B in cellular responses during infection.
Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 viral RNAs and host cell proteins during infection are evaluated to improve our understanding of viral RNA functions and the host innate immune response.
Acute respiratory distress in macaques and baboons recapitulates COVID-19 disease progression in humans, making them suitable as models to test vaccines and therapies.
A DNA-based vaccine elicits humoral and cellular immunity and provides protection against Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus-mediated disease in a non-human primate model.
Bacterial–fungal interactions are studied using a combination of random barcode transposon-site sequencing, RNA sequencing, bacterial cytological profiling and metabolomics. Fungi cause widespread changes in the fitness of bacterial mutants and have both conserved and species-specific impacts on bacteria.
Here, the authors show that Salmonella activates the cytosolic PRR Nod-like Receptor CARD 4 (NLRC4), which limits adaptive T-cell responses in a NLRP3-dependent manner. Modification of Salmonella flagellin reduces NLRC4 activation and enhances protective immunity.
A longitudinal genomic surveillance of Enterococcus faecium carriage, environmental contamination and transmission in a defined patient cohort shows that a hospital-adapted E. faecium lineage was hyperendemic.
Neutralizing antibody responses of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 peak at 3–4 weeks post onset of symptoms, then decline to low levels over the course of 3 months in some individuals.
Drug used to treat Helicobacter pylori infection reduces SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in lungs and alleviates virus-associated pneumonia in a golden Syrian hamster model.
Very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) mediate recruitment of septins to the plasma membrane in fungal appressoria, leading to formation of a septin ring at the point of plant infection. VLCFA biosynthesis-inhibiting chemicals prevent septin assembly and have broad-spectrum fungicidal activity.
Using single-particle analysis cryogenic electron microscopy, the authors determine the structures of the bacterial flagellum stator complexes from three diverse bacteria.
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of three varicella-zoster virus (VZV) capsids show VZV-specific features of the capsid-associated tegument complex (CATC) and genome packaging. The authors conclude that the VZV capsid is less stable and the CATC binds more weakly than in the homologues in other herpesviruses, characteristics that are linked to the small genome size of VZV.
Preclinical studies show that fluoxazolevir, which inhibits the fusion of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with hepatic cells by binding viral envelope protein 1, could be useful in drug cocktails to treat HCV.
Large freshwater phage genomes can encode the pmoC gene, an important subunit of the methane oxidation enzyme, methane monooxygenase. These genes are similar to bacterial homologues and are actively expressed in situ. Further work is needed to confirm whether these phages contribute to methane oxidation in the environment.
The authors do a CRISPR-knockout selection to investigate host factors required for influenza replication. They identified IFIT2 as being repurposed by influenza to promote replication.