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Two studies now provide new insights into the positioning and membrane association of two components of theStreptococcus pneumoniaeZ ring, the tubulin-related GTPase FtsZ and the actin-related protein FtsA, respectively.
A new study shows that the cyclic provision of a single glycan by the Hawaiian bobtail squid to its bioluminescent symbiontVibrio fischericontributes to the persistence of their lifelong symbiosis.
A new study shows that, in addition to inhibiting penicillin-binding proteins, β-lactams induce peptidoglycan degradation, which enhances bacterial killing.
This month's Genome Watch looks at how whole genome sequencing (WGS) can be used to track the source ofPseudomonas aeruginosainfection and to investigate its transition and adaptation from the environment to a human host.
Some bacteria interact with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to generate intracellular compartments that promote bacterial replication. However, conditions of physiological stress in the ER elicit the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is a cytoprotective response that is also involved in innate immune sensing. Here, Celli and Tsolis discuss how bacteria and the ER interact, including how bacteria induce the UPR, how subversion of the UPR promotes bacterial proliferation and how the UPR participates in innate immune responses against intracellular bacteria.
The base excision repair (BER) pathway is the most important mechanism for the repair of oxidative DNA damage, which is frequently encountered by host-adapted bacterial pathogens. Here, van der Veen and Tang review DNA repair in the human pathogensMycobacterium tuberculosis, Helicobacter pylori and Neisseria meningitidis, highlighting common and distinct mechanisms.
Recent studies have indicated that the recognition of microorganism-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) involves a larger set of chemotactic MAMPs and corresponding GPCRs than was previously thought. Peschel and colleagues review bacterial leukocyte-attracting molecules, the corresponding human receptors, and their roles in antibacterial host defence.
Polintons are large DNA transposons that are widespread in the genomes of eukaryotes. Here, Krupovic and Koonin propose that Polintons were the first group of eukaryotic double-stranded DNA viruses to evolve from bacteriophages and that they gave rise to most large DNA viruses of eukaryotes and various other selfish elements.
In this Opinion article, Baquero and colleagues propose a hierarchical system for estimating the risks associated with genes present in environmental resistomes, by evaluating the likelihood of their introduction into human pathogens, and the consequences of such introduction events for the treatment of bacterial infections.
