News & Comment

In this Journal Club, Amelia Barber discusses a study revealing intraspecies heterogeneity in a fungal pathogen, prompting us to re-evaluate the notion of ‘reference’ strains.

In this study, Achberger et al. report that microbial communities of inactive hydrothermal deposits contribute to primary productivity in the deep sea.

This month’s Genome Watch discusses the application of spatial transcriptomics to investigate the arrangements of microbial communities and their effects on the host.

The study provides insights into how insects and their endosymbionts can manipulate plant defences.

This study shows that the distinct cellular organization across the depth of a biofilm is tightly regulated and has consequences for cell physiology and antibiotic tolerance.

This study describes a signalling pathway involving the host receptor GPR35 and members of the gut microbiota, such as Parabacteroides distasonis, which regulates depressive-like behaviour.

This study reports that antibodies that target the fusion peptide on the HIV envelope provide protection to rhesus macaques against mucosal simian-HIV challenge.

This Genome Watch article highlights how studying pathogens in the context of their phylogenetic neighbours can provide insights into their evolution.

This study describes Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus trimeric fibre proteins with diverse adhesive tips that enable the identification of a broad range of prey.

In this study, Knödlseder et al. explore the potential of an engineered Cutibacterium acnes strain as a microbiome-based therapy for skin conditions.

Two recent studies provide mechanistic understanding of how bacteria employ the Gabija system for defence against phages, as well as how phages use anti-defence proteins to overcome bacterial immunity.

The data of the study suggest that bacteria possess a physiological iron memory that persists over multiple generations.

In this study, Lee et al. analyse the structure and receptor-binding features of the spike glycoprotein from a clade 3 sarbecovirus to examine the risk of spillover from bats to humans.

This month’s Genome Watch highlights the recent use of machine learning to uncover functional ‘dark matter’ in the microbial protein universe.

This study reports a mechanism whereby a Staphylococcus aureus protease induces itch by activating a host receptor on sensory neurons in the skin.

In this study, Simonis et al. show that chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa leads to development of neutralizing antibodies that could be exploited to fight against this pathogen.

In this study, Wang et al. show that bacterium-derived intestinal ammonia modulates glutamine production in the mouse brain and reduces stress-induced depressive-like behaviour.

This study provides evidence for a role of Anopheles stephensi in driving urban malaria outbreaks.

This study reports the identification of an archaeal virus Acr protein that blocks the dissociation of the target RNA from the type III-B CRISPR–Cas effector complex, which prevents the recycling of the complex.

This Genome Watch highlights how a tailor-made search through bacterial genomes revealed the widespread presence of a new class of bacterial signalling peptides that lack conventional characteristics.