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A better understanding of the factors that affect children's desire to follow a career in science is vital if we are to inspire the next generation of scientists.
UPEC pore-forming toxin α-haemolysin (HlyA) stimulates the proteolysis of host proteins involved in cell adhesion, resulting in uroepithelial cell exfoliation.
Our monthly round up of infectious diseases news, which this month includes the spread of a new virus affecting livestock in Europe, the H5N1 controversy and a report that mortality from malaria may be much higher than was previously suspected.
Production of viral progeny requires the coordination of a series of events. In this Review, Patton and colleagues examine structural insights into how regulation of the life cycle of rotaviruses and otherReoviridaefamily members is coupled with the assembly and disassembly of the viral particle.
Interactions between the pathogenic neisseriae (Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis) and neutrophils are central to the progression of both gonorrhoea and meningococcal meningitis. Here, Criss and Seifert review these interactions and propose a model in which this relationship promotes, rather than blocks, the infection cycle.
Synthetic biology approaches for thede novodesign of biosynthetic pathways have developed rapidly in recent years. Takano and colleagues describe the latest computational tools available and discuss how they can be applied now and further developed for future synthetic biology efforts.
The bacterial signalling nucleotide ppGpp is known to regulate promoter selection by RNA polymerase to direct the response to stress. Here, Dalebroux and Swanson look at other ways in which ppGpp helps bacteria to alter their physiology in order to accommodate fluctuating nutrient supplies and environmental stresses.
Autotransporters are a superfamily of proteins that were thought to contain all of the functional elements required for their delivery, via the type V secretion pathway, to the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. In this Review, Leyton, Rossiter and Henderson describe how recent studies have challenged the perceived simplicity of this secretion pathway.
Many bacteria in a variety of niches contain cellulases. Such microorganisms are primarily considered to be saprophytic, but recent evidence suggests that cellulases are also present in non-saprophytes. By examining the genomes of ∼1,500 bacteria, Henrissat and colleagues confirm this observation and reveal unusual roles for some cellulases.
