Table of contents
November 2007 Vol 5 No 11
In this issue
p827 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1775
Editorial: Whither microbial sciences?
p828 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1776
Research Highlights
Anti-infectives: Antibiotics and death — the Fenton connection | PDF (441 KB)
p829 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1783
Fungal virulence: Salvageable research | PDF (162 KB)
p830 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1781
Host response: Cryopyrin — another guise of death | PDF (130 KB)
p830 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1784
Malaria: Sticking around | PDF (212 KB)
p831 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1785
In brief
Gene regulation | Host defence | Metagenomics | PDF (91 KB)
p832 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1779
Anti-infectives: Communication breakdown | PDF (144 KB)
p832 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1786
Anti-infectives: In a class of their own | PDF (292 KB)
p833 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1780
Bacterial virulence: Return of the 'spacebugs' | PDF (492 KB)
p833 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1782
News and Analysis
Genome watch
Sink or swim | PDF (264 KB)
p834 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1777
Disease watch
In the News | PDF (601 KB)
p836 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1778
Reviews
Bacterial protein secretion through the translocase nanomachine
Effrosyni Papanikou, Spyridoula Karamanou & Anastassios Economou
p839 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1771
The Sec pathway, which transports proteins across membranes, is ubiquitous and essential for viability in all three domains of life. At the core of the pathway is the translocase, a dynamic nanomachine that catalyses transmembrane crossing. This Review considers the latest data on the structure and function of the bacterial Sec translocase.
Bacterial DNA repair by non-homologous end joining
Stewart Shuman & Michael S. Glickman
p852 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1768
The long-held belief that bacteria rely solely on homologous recombination for the repair of double-strand breaks was recently overturned by evidence that many bacterial genera contain a system for non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Biochemical, structural and genetic studies are beginning to define an NHEJ pathway that has distinctive features and enzymatic components.
Chemosensory pathways, motility and development in Myxococcus xanthus
David R. Zusman, Ansley E. Scott, Zhaomin Yang & John R. Kirby
p862 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1770
The complex life cycle of Myxococcus xanthus includes predation, swarming, fruiting-body formation and sporulation. The large genome of this bacterium contains eight chemotaxis gene clusters that define eight two-component chemosensory pathways, most of which have dedicated functions in motility or development.
Visceral leishmaniasis: what are the needs for diagnosis, treatment and control?
François Chappuis, Shyam Sundar, Asrat Hailu, Hashim Ghalib, Suman Rijal, Rosanna W. Peeling, Jorge Alvar & Marleen Boelaert
p873 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1748
Every year there are an estimated 500,000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and more than 50,000 deaths from the disease, a death toll that is surpassed among the parasitic diseases only by malaria. The epidemiology, clinical presentation and pathogenesis of VL are reviewed, along with the current control strategies and research challenges.
Perspectives
Opinion
Type VII secretion — mycobacteria show the way
Abdallah M. Abdallah, Nicolaas C. Gey van Pittius, Patricia A. DiGiuseppe Champion, Jeffery Cox, Joen Luirink, Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls, Ben J. Appelmelk & Wilbert Bitter
p883 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1773
The evidence suggests that a novel secretion system, which is unlike type I–VI secretion systems, exports proteins across the highly impermeable cell walls of mycobacterium. In this Opinion, Wilbert Bitter and colleagues propose to call this system, in line with the accepted nomenclature, type VII secretion.
Opinion
Inventing the dynamo machine: the evolution of the F-type and V-type ATPases
Armen Y. Mulkidjanian, Kira S. Makarova, Michael Y. Galperin & Eugene V. Koonin
p892 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1767
Owing to their ability to couple ion movement with ATP hydrolysis or synthesis, F-type and V-type ATPases constitute the cornerstone of cellular bioenergetics and are present in all three domains of life. In this Opinion, Eugene Koonin and colleagues use sequence and structural data to develop an evolutionary scenario for these ubiquitous molecular machines.
