Table of contents
March 2008 Vol 6 No 3
In this issue
p169 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1867
Editorial: Getting to know the tiny majority
p170 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1860
Research Highlights
HIV: Hooked on HIV | PDF (377 KB)
p171 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1859
Evolution: Selection always hits the bullseye | PDF (380 KB)
p172 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1854
In brief
Bacterial physiology | Bacterial secretion | Techniques & applications | PDF (99 KB)
p172 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1868
Biotechnology: Supercharged: the biofilm anode | PDF (391 KB)
p173 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1863
Environmental microbiology: Breadth as well as depth | PDF (340 KB)
p173 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1865
Bacterial pathogenesis: Two become one | PDF (91 KB)
p174 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1856
Symbiosis: The bacteria diet | PDF (205 KB)
p174 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1864
Cell Biology: Tube travel for HIV? | PDF (152 KB)
p175 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1866
News and Analysis
Genome watch
Single-cell genomics | PDF (183 KB)
p176 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1862
Disease watch
In the News | PDF (489 KB)
p178 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1869
Progress
CRISPR — a widespread system that provides acquired resistance against phages in bacteria and archaea
Rotem Sorek, Victor Kunin & Philip Hugenholtz
p181 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1793
CRISPR systems, which are composed of direct repeats that are separated by similarly sized non-repetitive spacers, confer resistance to phages in many bacteria and most archaea. This new antiviral tactic is thought to involve an RNA-interference-like mechanism, and is reviewed in this Progress article.
Reviews
The evolution of fungal drug resistance: modulating the trajectory from genotype to phenotype
Leah E. Cowen
p187 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1835
Leah Cowen reviews the mechanisms that potentiate the evolution of fungal drug resistance, with an emphasis on the central role of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) in altering the relationship between genotype and phenotype in an environmentally contingent manner, which thereby 'sculpts' the course of evolution.
Physiological heterogeneity in biofilms
Philip S. Stewart & Michael J. Franklin
p199 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1838
Stewart and Franklin discuss the processes that generate chemical gradients in biofilms, the genetic and physiological responses of the bacteria as they adapt to these gradients and the techniques that can be used to visualize and measure microscale physiological heterogeneities of bacteria in biofilms.
Chromatin control of herpes simplex virus lytic and latent infection
David M. Knipe & Anna Cliffe
p211 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1794
Knipe and Cliffe review the mechanisms that underlie the switch from a lytic to a latent infection in the widespread pathogen herpes simplex virus (HSV). They propose a new model in which an epigenetic switch determines whether a lytic or a latent infection occurs and discuss viral functions that might regulate chromatin assembly on the HSV genome and effect this epigenetic switch.
Membrane lipid homeostasis in bacteria
Yong-Mei Zhang & Charles O. Rock
p222 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1839
Bacteria can precisely adjust their membrane lipid compositions to control the biophysical properties of their membranes, which allows them to thrive in various physical environments. Here, Charles Rock and Yong-Mei Zhang review the biochemical processes that are responsible for bacterial membrane lipid homeostasis.
Inserting proteins into the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane using the Sec and YidC translocases
Kun Xie & Ross E. Dalbey
p234 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1845
The insertion of proteins into the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane is a complex and dynamic process. Sophisticated translocases are responsible for decoding the topogenic sequences within membrane proteins that direct membrane protein insertion and orientation. Here, Xie and Dalbey highlight what is known about the role of the Sec and YidC translocases in the folding and insertion of bacterial membrane proteins.
Analysis
Mesophilic crenarchaeota: proposal for a third archaeal phylum, the Thaumarchaeota
Céline Brochier-Armanet, Bastien Boussau, Simonetta Gribaldo & Patrick Forterre
p245 | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1852
The archaeal domain comprises two phyla, the Euryarchaeota and the Crenarchaeota. Phylogenetic and genomic analyses now show that mesophilic crenarchaeota should not be considered as crenarchaeota. Based on this, the authors advocate the creation of a third archaeal phylum, which they propose to name Thaumarchaeota (from the Greek 'thaumas', meaning wonder).
