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The escalation of violence against public health workers associated with the polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan bodes ill for the global eradication effort and must cease.
Cross-bands in the stalks ofCaulobacter crescentusare composed of at least four proteins and act as diffusion barriers for both soluble and membrane proteins.
Experimental evolution of measles virus reveals that a new phenotype emerges through cooperation between two different viral genomes in a single virion.
Advances in single-molecule DNA sequencing are enabling research into the fine resolution of DNA structure, and rapid, direct sequencing of pathogen genomes.
In this Progress article, Cossart and colleagues discuss the unique features of unusually long antisense RNAs and discuss the excludon paradigm, which describes a genomic locus that encodes a long antisense RNA which inhibits the expression of one operon while simultaneously driving the expression of the adjacent operon.
The discovery of abundant microbial life in the deep subsurface, where energy fluxes can be orders of magnitude lower than in laboratory cultures, challenges many of our assumptions about the requirements to sustain life. Here, Tori Hoehler and Bo Barker Jørgensen review our understanding of life in these extremely low-energy environments.
The rise of antibiotic resistance, together with collateral damage to the human microbiota as a result of antibiotic use, means that new antimicrobials need to be developed. Here, Cotter, Ross and Hill discuss the potential of bacteriocins, which are active against a range of bacteria, have low toxicity towards the host, are easily modifiable and can even be producedin situ.
The reversible oxidation of H2 into protons and electrons is mediated by metalloenzymes known as hydrogenases. Here, Fritsch, Lenz and Friedrich discuss recent progress in our understanding of the structure, function and biosynthesis of a subtype of [NiFe]-hydrogenases mainly found in H2-oxidizing bacteria that can sustain H2 conversion in the presence of ambient O2 levels, a process that has been defined as O2-tolerant H2cycling.
Here, Suthar, Diamond and Gale review recent insights into West Nile virus pathogenesis and the host immune responses that this virus activates. Given the continuing spread of the virus in the Western hemisphere, a better understanding of these host–virus interactions is crucial and should facilitate the development of effective vaccines and therapeutics.
Fungal taxonomy has recently undergone its biggest shake-up and embraced the modernization of its nomenclatural rules. Here, Hibbett and Taylor describe these changes and what their implications might be for fungal researchers.
The emergence of new microbial infections is ever more likely with the globalization of trade and travel, changes to agricultural practices and climate change. However, as Lipkin describes in this Essay, this threat is being met by dramatic technological advances in pathogen discovery, surveillance and modelling.
