Volume 12 Issue 11, November 2014

A new study shows that a unique tetrameric form of c-di-GMP controls development inStreptomyces venezuelaeby mediating dimerization of a transcription factor.

A new study shows how alternating antibiotics reduces the evolution of multidrug resistance.

A new study analyses the distribution of biosynthetic gene clusters in the human microbiome and finds a novel bacterial thiopeptide with antibacterial properties.

A new study investigates the role of the human gut microbiota inVibrio cholerae infection and shows that Ruminococcus obeum decreases the expression of V. choleraevirulence factors to limit colonization.

This month's Genome Watch highlights recent examples of the major contributions that genomics has made to new biological discoveries in malaria parasites.

The crosstalk between the metabolic pathways of intracellular pathogens and host cells can have important consequences for infection. In this Progress article, Neyrolles and colleagues describe recent insights into nitrogen acquisition and assimilation inMycobacterium tuberculosisand highlight potential links to bacterial virulence.

Viral infection is induced by binding of the virus to host sialylated glycans on the cell surface. Glycan array studies and structure determination provide new insights into the virus–silaic acid interaction and its functional role in viral disease. This Review highlights principles of glycan binding that are used by influenza virus, reovirus, adenovirus and rotavirus.

Recent efforts have focused on the development of therapies that could eradicate HIV-1 infection or achieve a durable remission of viraemia in the absence of antiretroviral therapy; however, targeting viral quiescence within specific cellular reservoirs so that residual infection can be cleared remains a challenge. In this Review, Margolis and colleagues explore new approaches to eradicate established HIV-1 infection.

In this Opinion article, Dan Barouch and Louis Picker discuss recent data regarding the clinical development of novel serotype adenovirus and cytomegalovirus vaccine vectors for use in HIV-1 vaccines.

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has revolutionized the treatment of HIV-1 infection, but the mechanistic basis of successful treatment is poorly understood. In this Opinion article, Siliciano and Laskey present a model to assess the efficacy of antiretroviral drugs and argue that this is a more accurate metric to predict the success of cART than current metrics.

In this Essay in our Microbiology Pioneers series, Hilary Lappin-Scott, Sara Burton and Paul Stoodley pay tribute to Bill Costerton, who was the founding father of biofilm research, and trace his development of the biofilm concept.