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The response from the scientific community to two recent controversies has shown that although scientific progress is not always linear, the right answer will emerge in the end.
The increased virulence ofLeishmania amazonsis compared with Leishmania major may result from the ability of L. amazonensisto induce the macrophage inhibitor CD200.
Our monthly round-up of infectious diseases news, which this month includes bacteria on the beach, good news about the HPV vaccine, copper in intensive care units and a scarlet fever outbreak in Hong Kong.
In bacteria, oscillations control numerous fundamental processes, including gene expression, cell cycle progression, cell division, DNA segregation and cell polarity. In this Review, Lenz and Søgaard-Andersen describe the design principles and mechanisms that underlie both temporal and spatial bacterial oscillators.
Hfq is a bacterial RNA-binding protein that participates in post-transcriptional control of gene expression by facilitating the interactions between small non-coding RNAs and their target mRNAs. In this Review, Vogel and Luisi describe the structural and functional features of this protein and discuss possible mechanisms of Hfq-mediated regulation.
Influenza A viruses continuously circulate and change in several animal hosts, and the emergence of novel strains that are capable of causing human epidemics or pandemics is a serious possibility. Here, Medina and García-Sastre discuss the importance of surveillance in identifying viruses with a potential risk to humans, and describe new developments in our understanding of viral host tropism and virulence.
Leishmaniases, affecting over 150 million people worldwide, are caused by insect-borne protists of the genusLeishmania. Here, Kaye and Scott summarize the mechanisms involved in the establishment, survival and persistence of the different Leishmaniaspp. in their hosts, and highlight the pitfalls associated with a simplistic view of leishmanial pathogenesis.
Recombination can be an important evolutionary force for RNA viruses, but the rate of recombination varies greatly between different RNA viruses. In this Analysis article, Simon-Loriere and Holmes describe the mechanisms of recombination for RNA viruses and the role of these mechanisms in viral evolution.
