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The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) recently launched its third public–private partnership, ENABLE (European Gram-negative Antibacterial Engine), to tackle the shortage of effective antimicrobial agents for Gram-negative pathogens.
Two new structural studies report that Cas9 activation requires guide-RNA loading and highlight the role of the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) in Cas9 target recognition and cleavage.
This month's Genome Watch highlights a recent study that used high-throughput sequencing to identify the mRNAs that are actively translated during the life cycle of a protozoan parasite.
Although once thought to be clonal, and thus undergo asexual reproduction, accumulating evidence now suggests that many human fungal pathogens retain sexual reproductive machinery and undergo sexual or parasexual reproduction. Iuliana V. Ene and Richard J. Bennett discuss the sexual cycles of three of the most prominent human pathogens —Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus fumigatus.
Mortality from influenza viruses is strongly linked to secondary bacterial invaders. Here, Jonathan A. McCullers reviews viral and bacterial virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of co-infections by disrupting physical barriers, dysregulating immune responses and delaying a return to homeostasis.
Wild populations of bacteria and archaea show high levels of genotypic diversity. In this Review, Cordero and Polz discuss recent studies that show that this diversity arises owing to social and ecological interactions, which have important consequences for microbial ecology and population dynamics.
The causative agent of whooping cough,Bordetella pertussis, has recently re-emerged as a serious public health concern. Here, Cotter, Miller and colleagues discuss the pathogenesis of pertussis, the shortcomings of current vaccines and the future challenges that need to be addressed for the development of more effective therapeutic strategies.
Protective immunity against tuberculosis is multifactorial, and correlates of protection — either during natural infection or after vaccination — are lacking. Here, Behar and colleagues discuss why it is time to look beyond interferon-γ for protective mechanisms againstMycobacterium tuberculosis.
Antivirulence drugs are a promising avenue to revitalize the antimicrobial drug-development pipeline, and it has been claimed that such compounds will generate much weaker selection for resistance than traditional antibiotics. Sam P. Brown and colleagues examine this claim and argue that, although resistance to antivirulence drugs may emerge, the crucial factor is whether or not this resistance will spread.
