Volume 11 Issue 3, March 2013

Mycobacterium lepraetriggers reprogramming of Schwann cells to promote its dissemination.

The first comprehensive biogeochemical survey of a storm cloud reveals a selection bias for plant-associated bacteria over soil bacteria, which could influence the global distribution of bacteria.

Transcription of an sRNA is required for formation of a G4 structure that allows pilin antigenic variation inNeisseria gonorrhoeae.

Two groups report the development of a reverse genetics system to recover Schmallenberg virus from cloned cDNA.

Phytophthora sojaeevades host immunity by silencing avirulence genes over multiple generations.

On exposure to a cell wall synthesis inhibitor,Mycobacterium smegmatispersisters enter a dynamic state of balanced cell division and death.

The formation of wrinkles inPseudomonas aeruginosabiofilms is a redox-driven adaptation to maximize oxygen accessibility, indicating that redox homeostasis is an important determinant of biofilm morphogenesis.

This month's Genome Watch highlights how deep sequencing technologies have vastly reduced the time and prior knowledge needed to generate viral genomes.

N-glycosylation was first reported in archaea almost 40 years ago. However, as Jerry Eichler describes in this Progress article, it is only recently, with the ready availability of archaeal genome sequences and new and improved molecular tools, that we have begun to make major advances in our understanding of this crucial post-translational modification.

Bacillus subtilishas emerged as an important model organism for the study of biofilms. In this Review, Kolter, Losick and colleagues discuss the regulation ofB. subtilisbiofilm assembly and highlight two emerging areas in the field: biofilm formation on natural substrates and biofilm disassembly.

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are used by plants, nematodes and arthropods in cellular defence against viruses, but in chordates, sRNAs were replaced with a protein-based system to inhibit viral replication. Here, Benjamin tenOever describes how the lack of interplay between cellular sRNAs and RNA viruses permits the engineering of vectors that can deliver their own sRNAs or are controlled by the sRNAs present in the host.

In addition to developing vaccines and drugs that target vector-borne diseases, historically the use of insecticides has been the main approach for targeting the vector itself. However, as McGraw and O'Neill describe in this Review, there has been substantial recent progress in developing alternative genetic and biological vector-control strategies.

Despite 60 years of investigation, our understanding of the mechanisms by which phages eject their genomes into target bacterial cells remains incomplete. Here, Molineux and Panja describe the structure of DNA inside the phage head and discuss the current models for DNA ejection bothin vitro and in vivo.

In this Analysis article, Morris and Schmidt report the results of surveys searching for high-affinity terminal oxidase genes in sequenced bacterial genomes and shotgun metagenomes. They find that bacteria with the potential to respire under microoxic conditions are phylogenetically diverse and intriguingly widespread in nature, and go on to highlight the importance of microaerobic metabolism in host-associated bacteria.

Here, Blaser, Bork, Fraser, Knight and Wang highlight the most exciting findings in the field of microbiome research and discuss what will be necessary to obtain a better understanding of the role of the microbiota in human health and disease, and to develop microbiota-based therapies.