Table of contents
In This Issue
p161 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1370
Editorial: Mentoring the Wisconsin way
p162 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1369
Research Highlights
Type III secretion: Expert mimics
p163 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1377
Techniques and applications: Analysing influenza's sweet spot
p164 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1375
Virology: A quick fix for avian influenza?
p164 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1378
Malaria: Plasmodium develops in lymph nodes
p165 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1371
Host immune response: Bacteria provide a breath of fresh air
p166 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1372
Microbial diversity: Gutsy results...
p166 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1373
Fungal pathogenesis: Flexible metabolism
p166 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1376
In brief
Environmental microbiology | Techniques and applications | Bacterial physiology
p167 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1374
News and Analysis
Genome watch
Bacterial home from home
p168 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1367
Disease watch
Viral catch 22 | Iron and malaria — a lethal mix? | SMART study halted | Bacterial resistome unearthed | Long-range transmission | Catwalk condoms | The Plague of Athens — main suspect: | Avian influenza | Chimp Fabs against smallpox | Outbreak news
p171 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1368
Reviews
Marine microorganisms make a meal of oil
Ian M. Head, D. Martin Jones & Wilfred F. M. Röling
p173 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1348
Crude-oil spills pose particular environmental challenges, and we have only recently begun to garner information on microbial involvement in hydrocarbon degradation in marine environments. Here, the bacteria involved, their environmental distribution and dynamics, and the positive and negative effects of environmental conditions and interactions with other organisms are explored.
N6-methyl-adenine: an epigenetic signal for DNA–protein interactions
Didier Wion & Josep Casadesús
p183 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1350
The authors review the fundamental roles of N6-methyl-adenine in bacteria. In 
-proteobacteria, Dam methylation facilitates DNA–protein interactions involved in chromosome segregation, mismatch repair, transposition, and the epigenetic control of gene expression. In 
-proteobacteria, the CcrM methylase is an important cell-cycle regulator.
Article series: Food Microbiology
Designer probiotics for prevention of enteric infections
Adrienne W. Paton, Renato Morona & James C. Paton
p193 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1349
Given the increasing problems posed by antibiotic resistance, there is keen interest in alternative strategies. Here, James Paton and colleagues review recent progress made in one such alternative strategy — creating recombinant receptor-mimic probiotics for the treatment and prevention of enteric infections.
Prions and their lethal journey to the brain
Neil A. Mabbott & G. Gordon MacPherson
p201 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1346
For some prion diseases, accumulation of the disease agent in lymphoid tissues is required for efficient delivery of the agent to the central nervous system. Here, Mabbott and MacPherson discuss the cellular components and mechanisms involved before, during and after this accumulation.
Yeast viral killer toxins: lethality and self-protection
Manfred J. Schmitt & Frank Breinig
p212 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1347
Schmitt and Breinig review the biology of virus-carrying killer yeasts, which produce secreted toxins with antimycotic activity. Viral toxin protein generation, intracellular processing and modes of action are described. The authors present a model explaining how killer yeast strains remain immune to their lethal cargo.
Perspectives
Opinion
Control of filamentous fungal cell shape by septins and formins
Amy S. Gladfelter
p223 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1345
Amy Gladfelter discusses our current knowledge of the functions and regulation of the septins and formins in filamentous fungi, and makes the case that a concerted research effort on these proteins in these organisms could yield significant insights into fundamental eukaryotic cellular processes.
Opinion
Trypanosoma cruzi surface mucins: host-dependent coat diversity
Carlos A. Buscaglia, Vanina A. Campo, Alberto C. C. Frasch & Javier M. Di Noia
p229 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1351
In this Opinion article, Carlos Buscaglia and colleagues discuss Trypanosoma cruzi mucins and the intriguing possibility that the heterogeneity of the mucin core polypeptides in the mammal-dwelling stages of the T. cruzi life cycle might be an immune-evasion mechanism.