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Many bacteria hijack the cellular actin machinery to move both within and between host cells. Recent studies have revealed differing mechanisms of bacterial actin-based motility, with some genera mimicking a cellular nucleation-promoting factor and others activating WASP proteins to induce actin polymerization. Stevenset al.review the latest developments in these different strategies.
In recent years, the question of whether microbial life exhibits biogeographical patterns has come under increased scrutiny. In this article, leading scientists in the field review the biogeography of microorganisms and provide a framework for assessing the impact of environmental and historical processes that contribute to microbial biodiversity.
Although traditional descriptions of the bacterial life cycle include just three phases, two additional phases, death phase and long-term stationary phase (LTSP), appear when batch cultures are incubated for longer periods of time. Here, Steve Finkel discusses the GASP phenotype, which confers a competitive ability to LTSP cells.
The need for a balance between pathogen elimination and protection from cellular damage means that the central nervous system (CNS) is a partially protected niche that some pathogens can exploit. Here, the authors discuss the immune regulation of acute and persistent CNS infection by coronaviruses, using mouse hepatitis virus as a model.
Recently solved tertiary structures of partition proteins provide important insights into segrosome organization and assembly. Hayes and Barillà review recent advances in our understanding of the bacterial segrosome and plasmid partitioning, including the organization of partition modules, segrosome assembly and plasmid trafficking.
To date, most systems-biology research has focused on model organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but large amounts of omics data are now beginning to accumulate for many medically relevant microorganisms. Elizabeth Winzeler discusses how systems-biology approaches could help in the search for new drugs and vaccines to treat malaria.
It is estimated that 50% of the world's population is persistently colonized byHelicobacter pylori. In this Opinion article, Ben Appelmelk and colleagues argue that for most patients, controlled modulation of the host immune response by H. pylorifacilitates an asymptomatic, persistent infection.
