Volume 11 Issue 5, May 2013

The human cytomegalovirus protein UL141 interacts with the host proteins TRAILR1 and TRAILR2 to dampen antiviral signalling.

The lipid mediator PD1 protects against lethal influenza infection by inhibiting viral replication.

Cryptococcus neoformansdetoxifies copper to avoid an antimicrobial host response.

Exposure of bacteria to subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics induces mutagenesis by an RpoS-regulated pathway that results in reduced replication fidelity.

Shigella flexneridisrupts host proteinN-myristoylation to interfere with Golgi-mediated cargo sorting and secretion.

The first report of a phage-encoded CRISPR–Cas system that deactivates an unrelated anti-phage system inVibrio cholerae.

A new paper inmBio provides unprecedented insight into the structural and physiological complexity of Escherichia colimacrocolony biofilms.

This month's Genome Watch describes how horizontal gene transfer from bacteria and archaea has allowed an alga to live in extreme environments.

In vitrosingle-molecule technologies have emerged as powerful tools for the study of complex biological phenomena. Here, Robinson and van Oijen summarize the latest insights that fluorescence-based single-molecule studies have provided for DNA replication, transcription and translation in bacterial cells.

Many bacterial species have evolved specialized secretion systems that deliver effector proteins into host cells in order to promote bacterial survival and replication. To exert their functions in a spatially coordinated manner, effector proteins must be accurately targeted to specific subcellular compartments. Here, Hicks and Galán review how bacterial effectors exploit the host cell machinery involved in processes such as lipidation and ubiquitylation to accurately target the biochemical activities of these effectors within the host cell.

RNA viruses have extremely high mutation rates, which are crucial for the ability of these viruses to adapt but can also lead to population extinction. Here, Andino and colleagues describe the mechanisms that RNA viruses use to cope with the high mutational load and discuss the impact of mutational robustness on population dynamics, pathogenicity and antiviral therapies.

Microorganisms can form complex, spatially organized communities that are coordinated by both physical and chemical intercellular interactions, as well as by other molecules present in the surrounding environment. Here, Whiteley and colleagues describe a number of microscale techniques for reproducing small bacterial communities in the laboratory. They also discuss the analytical tools available to monitor the impact of spatial organization on both bacterial behaviour and the generation of phenotypic heterogeneity.

The bacterial nucleoid was first described more than 50 years ago, but the recent application of new imaging technologies and physical analytical methods has brought fresh insights to the structure of the DNA within the nucleoid. Here, Charles Dorman discusses these insights and argues that, in addition to DNA topology and nucleoid-associated proteins, gene regulation is an important organizing principle of nucleoid architecture.