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Extracellular vesicles carrying phosphatidylserine on their surface, found in large quantities in semen, saliva and breast milk, but not in blood, provide an innate defence strategy by blocking viral entry through competition for binding to cellular phosphatidylserine receptors, explaining why many viruses are transmitted by blood rather than by these body fluids.
A ‘reverse translation’ strategy using gnotobiotic mice ascertains cause and effect relationships between bacterial members of the gut microbiota, dietary components and host physiology, which are difficult to establish in human nutritional trials.
Two studies describe the discovery of proteins that harbour a photosynthetic reaction centre barrel domain and play pivotal roles in FtsZ-mediated cell division in archaea, with the photosynthetic reaction centre fold itself emerging as a key player in executing cytokinesis across archaea.
Active hydrothermal vents are hotspots of life in the deep sea, but even after hot springs go extinct, highly productive microbial communities continue to thrive on the chemical energy in the minerals left behind.
Decomposer microbiomes are universal across cadavers regardless of environmental conditions, and they use complex cross-feeding and interkingdom interactions to break down organic matter.
Metabolomics and feeding experiments demonstrate the host’s active role in sharing organic acids with a gut microbiota member, revealing host–microbe interactions that foster symbiosis.
Sensing of brain glucose by the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans alters lipid metabolism and membrane composition in the fungus, rendering it drug tolerant.
The antimicrobial agent epifadin, which is produced by the nasal commensal Staphylococcus epidermidis, has— despite its short half-life — broad-spectrum activity, including against Staphylococcus aureus.
Bacteroides fragilis employs two different mechanisms, secreted microbe- and host-targeting toxins, that facilitate successful colonization of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract.
Improving HIV interventions for men could reduce HIV acquisition in women, close the growing gender gap in HIV infections and further reduce HIV incidence in African countries.
Computational, molecular and structural analyses reveal the presence of bacterial histones that bind DNA to form dense, DNA-enveloping fibres in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus.
Lactulose is used to treat patients with hepatic encephalopathy but this prebiotic can also increase intestinal Bifidobacteria, thereby reducing systemic infection, growth of multidrug-resistant bacteria and mortality that often accompanies chronic liver disease.
Genomic epidemiology of the Yemen cholera outbreak reveals the genetic basis for emergence of multidrug resistance with implications for Vibrio cholerae surveillance and control.
Recovery and characterization of the wild-type pangolin coronavirus GD strain helps determine whether these viruses present risks for human transmission and an emerging threat to public health.
Genetic and phenotypic changes that enable Pseudomonas to adapt to an animal host are identified. These traits are controlled by a universal signalling molecule and are shared by diverse strains.
