NPG Library
Below is a selection of recent Research highlights, News and views, Reviews, Perspectives and Research articles published by Nature Publishing Group on the topic of symbiosis.
Research highlights
Show me the sugar
Asher Mullard
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1908
Nature Reviews Microbiology 6, 332 (2008)
Who does what in the microbiome?
Susan Jones
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1880
Nature Reviews Microbiology 6, 256-257 (2008)
The bacteria diet
Gillian Young
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1864
Nature Reviews Microbiology 6, 174-175 (2008)
There's more to life than bacteria
Gillian Young
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1753
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 744-745 (2007)
Symbiotic exceptions
Sheilagh Molloy
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1700
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 473 (2007)
Three pieces in the puzzle
Susan Jones
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1627
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 168-169 (2007)
News and Views
Genomics: Fungal symbiosis unearthed
Dan Cullen
doi:10.1038/452042a
Nature 452, 42-43 (2008)
Human and microbe: united we stand
Inna Sekirov & B Brett Finlay
doi:10.1038/nm0706-736
Nature Medicine 12, 736-737 (2006)
Reviews
Trading molecules and tracking targets in symbiotic interactions
Eric W Schmidt
doi:10.1038/nchembio.101
Nature Chemical Biology 4, 466-473 (2008)
Learning how to live together: genomic insights into prokaryote–animal symbioses
Andrés Moya, Juli Peretó, Rosario Gil & Amparo Latorre
doi:10.1038/nrg2319
Nature Reviews Genetics 9, 218-229 (2008)
Symbiosis is an important source of evolutionary innovation. Genome sequencing and metagenomics have accelerated our understanding of the broad phylogenetic reach of this phenomenon, its complex and diverse nature, and the evolutionary paths followed by eukaryotic hosts and their prokaryotic symbionts.
Epithelial-cell recognition of commensal bacteria and maintenance of immune homeostasis in the gut
David Artis
doi:10.1038/nri2316
Nature Reviews Immunology 8, 411-420 (2008)
It was thought that intestinal epithelial cells functioned solely as a barrier to the external environment, but as described here, these cells are now known to have an integral role in facilitating and controlling crosstalk between commensal bacteria and the immune system.
Horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotic evolution
Patrick J. Keeling & Jeffrey D. Palmer
doi:10.1038/nrg2386
Nature Reviews Genetics 9, 605-618 (2008)
It is well known that prokaryotes regularly exchange genes by horizontal transfer, but there is increasing evidence that such processes also have an important role in eukaryotic evolution, although the extent of this differs widely between lineages.
How rhizobial symbionts invade plants: the Sinorhizobium–Medicago model
Kathryn M. Jones, Hajime Kobayashi, Bryan W. Davies, Michiko E. Taga & Graham C. Walker
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1705
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 619-633 (2007)
The symbiotic relationship between leguminous plants and rhizobial bacteria is one of the most well-studied microbial symbioses. The availability of genome sequence information for many of the bacterial and plant partners involved has been invaluable and in this article, the authors review the most recent discoveries about the mutual recognition between Sinorhizobium meliloti and Medicago truncatula.
Friend and foe: the two faces of Xenorhabdus nematophila
Erin E. Herbert & Heidi Goodrich-Blair
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1706
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 634-646 (2007)
Although microorganisms have gained notoriety as pathogens, many interactions with microorganisms benefit hosts and can affect development, immunity and nutrition. This Review discusses common features of pathogenic and mutualistic interactions that have arisen from studies with Xenorhabdus nematophila, which influences the lives of two different host animals.
Distribution, diversity and ecology of aerobic CO-oxidizing bacteria
Gary M. King & Carolyn F. Weber
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1595
Nature Reviews Microbiology 5, 107-118 (2007)
The authors review the aerobic carbon monoxide (CO)-oxidizing bacteria, which include important human and animal pathogens and plant symbionts. Genomic and metagenomic analyses has allowed the identification of new CO oxidizers, and the cox gene sequences have provided important insights into aerobic CO dehydrogenase structure and activity.
The love–hate relationship between bacterial polysaccharides and the host immune system
Sarkis K. Mazmanian & Dennis L. Kasper
doi:10.1038/nri1956
Nature Reviews Immunology 6, 849-858 (2006)
The commensal gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis might be the key to a healthy immune system. A zwitterionic polysaccharide that is produced by this bacterium has immunomodulatory properties, and the authors suggest that this supports the 'hygiene hypothesis' at a molecular level.
An ecological and evolutionary perspective on human–microbe mutualism and disease
Les Dethlefsen, Margaret McFall-Ngai & David A. Relman
doi:10.1038/nature06245
Nature 449, 811-818 (2007)
Soaking it up: the complex lives of marine sponges and their microbial associates
Michael W Taylor, Russell T Hill, Jörn Piel, Robert W Thacker & Ute Hentschel
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.32
The ISME Journal 1, 187-190 (2007)
Microbial ecology of biological invasions
Wim H van der Putten, John N Klironomos & David A Wardle
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.9
The ISME Journal 1, 28-37 (May )
Perspectives
Breaching the great wall: peptidoglycan and microbial interactions
Karen A. Cloud-Hansen, S. Brook Peterson, Eric V. Stabb, William E. Goldman, Margaret J. McFall-Ngai & Jo Handelsman
doi:10.1038/nrmicro1486
Nature Reviews Microbiology 4, 710-716 (2006)
In this Opinion article the authors propose that peptidoglycan is not only an essential structural component of the bacterial cell wall, but is also involved in diverse biological processes, such as microbial pathogenesis, symbiotic associations and a range of interactions between bacteria and other organisms.
Research articles
Evolution of species interactions in a biofilm community
Susse Kirkelund Hansen, Paul B. Rainey, Janus A. J. Haagensen & Søren Molin
doi:10.1038/nature05514
Nature 445, 533-536 (2007)
LysM domains mediate lipochitin-oligosaccharide recognition and Nfr genes extend the symbiotic host range
Yatish Lad, Tiila Kiema, Pengju Jiang, Olli T Pentik�inen, Charlotte H Coles, Iain D Campbell, David A Calderwood and Jari Ylänne
doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601826
The EMBO Journal 26, 3923�3935 (2007)
Labile associations between fungus-growing ant cultivars and their garden pathogens
Nicole M Gerardo & Eric J Caldera
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.57
The ISME Journal 1, 373-384 (2007)
A microbial symbiosis factor prevents intestinal inflammatory disease
Sarkis K. Mazmanian, June L. Round & Dennis L. Kasper
doi:10.1038/nature07008
Nature 453, 620-625 (2008)
Top-down systems biology integration of conditional prebiotic modulated transgenomic interactions in a humanized microbiome mouse model
Francois-Pierre J Martin, Yulan Wang, Norbert Sprenger, Ivan K S Yap, Serge Rezzi, Ziad Ramadan, Emma Peré-Trepat, Florence Rochat, Christine Cherbut, Peter van Bladeren, Laurent B Fay, Sunil Kochhar, John C Lindon, Elaine Holmes & Jeremy K Nicholson
doi:10.1038/msb.2008.40
Molecular Systems Biology 4, (2008)
The genome of Laccaria bicolor provides insights into mycorrhizal symbiosis
F. Martin, A. Aerts, D. Ahrén, A. Brun, E. G. J. Danchin, F. Duchaussoy, J. Gibon, A. Kohler, E. Lindquist, V. Pereda, A. Salamov, H. J. Shapiro, J. Wuyts, D. Blaudez, M. Buée, P. Brokstein, B. Canbäck, D. Cohen, P. E. Courty, P. M. Coutinho, C. Delaruelle, J. C. Detter, A. Deveau, S. DiFazio, S. Duplessis, L. Fraissinet-Tachet, E. Lucic, P. Frey-Klett, C. Fourrey, I. Feussner, G. Gay, J. Grimwood, P. J. Hoegger, P. Jain, S. Kilaru, J. Labbé, Y. C. Lin, V. Legué, F. Le Tacon, R. Marmeisse, D. Melayah, B. Montanini, M. Muratet, U. Nehls, H. Niculita-Hirzel, M. P. Oudot-Le Secq, M. Peter, H. Quesneville, B. Rajashekar, M. Reich, N. Rouhier, J. Schmutz, T. Yin, M. Chalot, B. Henrissat, U. Kües, S. Lucas, Y. Van de Peer, G. K. Podila, A. Polle, P. J. Pukkila, P. M. Richardson, P. Rouzé, I. R. Sanders, J. E. Stajich, A. Tunlid, G. Tuskan & I. V. Grigoriev
doi:10.1038/nature06556
Nature 452, 88-92 (2008)
Nitrogen fixation by phyllosphere bacteria associated with higher plants and their colonizing epiphytes of a tropical lowland rainforest of Costa Rica
Michael Fürnkranz, Wolfgang Wanek, Andreas Richter, Guy Abell, Frank Rasche & Angela Sessitsch
doi:10.1038/ismej.2008.14
The ISME Journal 2, 561-570 (2008)
Stress tolerance in plants via habitat-adapted symbiosis
Rusty J Rodriguez, Joan Henson, Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh, Marshal Hoy, Leesa Wright, Fleur Beckwith, Yong-Ok Kim & Regina S Redman
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.106
The ISME Journal 2, 404-416 (2008)
Identification of the bacterial symbiont Entotheonella sp. in the mesohyl of the marine sponge Discodermia sp.
Wolfram M Brück, Susan H Sennett, Shirley A Pomponi, Philippe Willenz & Peter J McCarthy
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.91
The ISME Journal 2, 335-339 (2008)
Changes in coral-associated microbial communities during a bleaching event
David Bourne, Yuki Iida, Sven Uthicke & Carolyn Smith-Keune
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.112
The ISME Journal 2, 350-363 (2008)
Symbiont recognition of mutualistic bacteria by Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants
Mingzi M Zhang, Michael Poulsen & Cameron R Currie
doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.41
The ISME Journal 1, 313-320 (2007)
Characterization of a carbohydrate transporter from symbiotic glomeromycotan fungi
Arthur Schü
ler,
Holger Martin, David Cohen, Michael Fitz & Daniel Wipf
doi:10.1038/nature05364
Nature 444, 933-936 (2006)
