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Life science research in China continues to expand rapidly. Support from the Chinese government and a thriving research community, including in the field of microbiology, are making China an increasingly important contributor to the life sciences.
Cj0256-mediated phosphoethanolamine modification of lipo-oligosaccharide and the flagellar rod protein FlgG couples membrane biogenesis and motility inCampylobacter jejuni.
Interest in the bacteria that inhabit the human gut has increased greatly in recent years, as technological advancements have allowed new discoveries. This month's Genome Watch reviews a recent study of the microorganisms in the human gut that sets a new marker for the field of metagenomics.
Our monthly round up of infectious diseases news, which this month includes similarities between Spanish flu and swine flu and decreased mortality of HIV-infected individuals when prophylactically treated with co-trimoxazole.
To prevent infection by phages, bacteria have evolved a diverse range of resistance mechanisms. Moineau and colleagues highlight recent work to characterize these resistance strategies and discuss how phages have adapted to overcome many of these mechanisms, triggering an evolutionary arms race with their hosts.
Anaplasma phagocytophilumandEhrlichia chaffeensiscause the emerging zoonoses human granulocytic anaplasmosis and human monocytic ehrlichiosis, respectively, which are among the most prevalent life-threatening tick-borne zoonoses in the United States. Yasuko Rikihisa reviews the adaptations of these obligate intracellular bacteria that allow them to subvert and manipulate host cells.
The human body plays host to interactions between a diverse range of microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi. In this Review, Mylonakis and colleagues describe the characteristics of medically important bacterial–fungal interactions and highlight how imbalances in these interactions can contribute to human disease.
Dendritic cells form an important arm of the innate immune defence and provide protection against various pathogens. Heidi Barth and colleagues provide an overview of the interaction of dendritic cells with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV.
Diseases spread across the world more than ever. Sarah Randolph and David Rogers use six examples of diseases to explore the factors that are involved in the spread and establishment of diseases and discuss how this information can be used to predict where new infections can take hold and become established.
The identification of genomic islands in bacterial genomes is becoming increasingly important. In this Analysis article, Fiona Brinkman and colleagues look at the limitations and benefits of the major computational methods that are available for genomic island prediction.
