Volume 19 Issue 6, June 2021

This study found that bacteria induce skin regeneration via inflammatory cytokine IL-1β signalling.

A recent study found that Akkermansia muciniphila secretes a glucagon-like peptide-1-inducing protein that improves glucose homeostasis and ameliorates metabolic disease in mice.

This study identifies a cyanobacterial toxin that causes mass mortality of eagles and other birds.

This study reports that ICEBs1, which is an integrative and conjugative element of Bacillus subtilis, provides a selective advantage to its host cells during two developmental processes: biofilm formation and sporulation.

This study finds that a bacterium commonly found in cold environmental habitats evolved from a mammalian pathobiont.

This study finds that bacteria found in tree bark can metabolize the greenhouse gas methane and thus reduce its emission.

A study looking at a common cold coronavirus suggests that it evolved over time to evade human immunity.

This month’s Genome Watch highlights how metagenomics could link the gut microbiota and COVID-19 disease outcomes and track emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, with the potential to inform clinical practice and public health policy.

This month’s Under the Lens discusses how combining cryo-electron tomography with cross-linking mass spectrometry has allowed elucidation of the mechanisms of transcription-coupled translation in bacteria.

Recent studies have revealed that the evolutionary impact of plasmids goes above and beyond their being mere gene delivery platforms. In this Review, Rodríguez-Beltrán, San Millán and colleagues discuss the advances that underscore the importance of plasmids in bacterial ecology and evolution beyond horizontal gene transfer.

In this Review, Kappler and colleagues highlight recent advances in our understanding of the biogeochemical iron cycle, exploring the great complexity of the processes involved and novel mechanistic insights that have been gained.

In this Review, Salje describes the key features of the best-studied Rickettsiales species that are pathogenic to humans or animals, or otherwise important for human health and the molecular basis of their interactions with mammalian host cells.

Microorganisms produce and excrete an array of metabolites with different physico-chemical properties and biological activities. In this Review, Garbeva and colleagues highlight recent discoveries concerning microbial volatile compounds and their roles in intra-kingdom and inter-kingdom communication, and discuss the potential biotechnological applications of microbial volatiles, as well as challenges and perspectives in this emerging research field.